The Rural Imaginary: Landscape, Village, Tradition
The Rural Imaginary: Landscape, Village, Tradition
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乡村想象：风景、村庄、传统
DOI：
10.1002/9780470996966.ch13
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发表时间：
2007
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Scott R. Schnell
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Scott R. Schnell
在日本高度城市化和国际化的社会中，农业形象似乎格格不入。如今，当谈到日本这个话题时，人们更有可能想到子弹头列车和机器人、时尚产业、动漫和流行音乐偶像，而不是头戴莎草帽弯腰在被洪水淹没的稻田里的乡村村民。事实上，日本农村人口几十年来一直在稳步减少，如何阻止年轻人流入城市或吸引新居民取代他们的位置是当地管理者面临的沉重挑战。如果农村地区如此衰落，为什么当代日本的学生只需要粗略地浏览一下呢？有人可能会说，日本政府的权力下放政策取决于农村社区的振兴。对交通拥堵和狭窄的生活条件的不满导致成千上万的城市居民返回农村，寻找更令人满意的生活方式（所谓的“掉头现象”）；人们越来越关注空气、食品和水质及其对人类健康的影响，这导致人们认识到城乡联系是实现更加可持续的未来的关键（Knight 1994；Moen 1997；Moon 1997）。此外，作为一名在日本内陆山区进行了多年田野调查的人类学家，我可以证明许多农村社区仍然充满活力，值得我们持续关注，因为它们是有趣、充满活力的地方。然而，在本章中，我将讨论日本农村的重要性，它不仅是自然和人力资源的持久来源，而且也是象征性资源的持久来源。无论实际情况如何，日本的文化认同都被认为深深植根于其农村地区的农业传统。这本身就使它们变得重要。许多理论家试图证明过去的制度结构如何在现在继续存在（Nakamaki 1992；Nakane 1970；Umesao 1984，1989）。事实上，日本独特的历史经历是日本真论主张的一个主要因素。然而，更引人注目的问题涉及过去的战略用途
Agrarian images seem out of place in the highly urbanized and cosmopolitan society Japan has become. When the subject of Japan is broached these days, one is far more likely to think of bullet trains and robotics, the fashion industry, anime, and popular music idols than rustic villagers in sedge hats bent over a flooded rice paddy. In fact, the rural population in Japan has been steadily decreasing for several decades, and the challenge of how to stem the flow of young people to the cities or to lure new residents to take their places is heavy on the minds of local administrators. If rural areas are in such decline, why should they warrant more than a cursory glance by students of contemporary Japan? One could argue that the Japanese government’s decentralization policies hinge on the revitalization of rural communities; that frustration with traffic congestion and cramped living conditions has led thousands of urban residents back to the countryside in search of a more satisfying lifestyle (the so-called ‘‘u-turn phenomenon’’); that increasing concerns about air, food, and water quality and their effect on human health have led to a recognition of urban–rural linkages as the key to a more sustainable future (Knight 1994; Moen 1997; Moon 1997). Moreover, as an anthropologist who has conducted fieldwork for several years in Japan’s mountainous interior, I can attest that many rural communities are alive and well, and deserve our continuing attention as interesting, dynamic places. In this chapter, however, I will confine my discussion to the significance of rural Japan as an abiding source not only of natural and human resources, but of symbolic ones as well. Whatever the actual case may be, Japan’s cultural identity is perceived as being heavily rooted in the agrarian traditions of its rural areas. This in itself makes them important.Many theorists have sought to demonstrate how the institutional structures of the past live on in the present (Nakamaki 1992; Nakane 1970; Umesao 1984, 1989). Indeed, Japan’s distinctive historical experience is a major element in nihonjinron assertions. The more compelling issue, however, relates to strategic uses of the past