Informasia #11, November 20, 2023 ~ Caitlin Coker (Hokkaido University)
"Privileged/Othered Bodies in Japan- what can ourbodies do?”
Vimeo video: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/886427803
Audio link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MCKeG0rrnlPQJeoH9lR7jdffmFI6TXQU/view?usp=drive_link
Abstract
I have researched physical performance- mainly Ankoku Butoh and poledance- in Japan since 2006. As an anthropologist, firsthand experience of dancingand performing together with people is one way I attempt to understand different movement practices. As I researched and attended graduate school with Kyoto as my base, my research had always been encouraged by others, and my presence- an English-speaking white female foreigner- had been, for the most part, embraced warmly.
It was not until I received a tenured position at a national universityin Japan that I became the target of sexual and racial harassment. This harassment reveals my vulnerable position in this society, and most of all, suggests that my own female body’s presence in my research is taboo.
Starting with my own experience, I want to think more deeply about how the intersection of gender, race, physicality, and sensuality shape our lives in Japanese society. I also want to approach this positionality as a source of possibilities for what our bodies can do; in my case, I am experimenting withthe integration of dance as a way of thinking, a movement praxis, in the university classroom.
After my talk, I would love to hear abouteveryone’s experiences of living and working in Japan and how you all understand these experiences.
