Igor Prusa
Mgr. Igor Prusa Ph.D. et Ph.D. is a Czech scholar in Japanese studies and media studies, currently affiliated with Ambis University, Prague. He worked at the Czech Academy of Sciences. Prusa received his first PhD in media studies at Prague’s Charles University in 2010. In 2017 he defended his second doctoral thesis at the University of Tokyo. His research interests include contemporary Japanese society, media scandals, and anti-heroism in popular fiction. Igor is the author of "Scandal in Japan" (Routledge 2023). His research has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Media, Culture & Society and Japan Forum. Apart from his academic activities, Igor Prusa is a music composer in a Japan-themed band, Nantokanaru.
Supervisors: Yoshimi Shunya (The University of Tokyo), Karlin Jason (The University of Tokyo), Rostinsky Joseph (Harvard/Tokai University), Hattori Takaaki (Rikkyo University), and Kraus Jiri (Charles University in Prague)
Phone: +420733296527
Address: Kotlarska 25
Brno 602 00
Czech Rep.
Supervisors: Yoshimi Shunya (The University of Tokyo), Karlin Jason (The University of Tokyo), Rostinsky Joseph (Harvard/Tokai University), Hattori Takaaki (Rikkyo University), and Kraus Jiri (Charles University in Prague)
Phone: +420733296527
Address: Kotlarska 25
Brno 602 00
Czech Rep.
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To many observers, the seemingly endless succession of scandals in politics, business, entertainment and other arenas may appear marginal — if amusing — but I argue that these events reveal a great deal about the society that produces them. What, then, can we learn from the funding scandal that ripped through the ruling party and will it have a lasting impact on Japanese politics?
In the last three decades, television in particular has excelled in bringing us shows about morally problematic characters to whom the audiences are drawn despite their darkness. While lacking traditional heroic qualities, these characters – at times labeled as antiheroes – may be flawed, immoral, and destructive, while some of them even resort to violence and murder, but they still have certain qualities that the audiences find emotionally relatable. They include gangster bosses (The Sopranos), serial killers (Dexter), drug dealers (Breaking Bad), bank robbers (Money Heist), corrupt politicians (House of Cards), murderers (The Wire), hackers (Mr. Robot), misanthropes (Curb Your Enthusiasm), and many others. Having a
cumulative audience of millions, these TV shows strongly resonated with (not only) American psyche and received unprecedented critical acclaim. They became the signature American art form, elevating their antihero protagonists to the status of millennial popcultural icons.
Link: https://a2larm.cz/2021/08/andrej-babis-jako-antihrdina-premier-v-mytech-a-fikci/
V současné době existuje nespočet analýz a teorií, které se snaží racionálně vysvětlit popularitu Andreje Babiše. Chybí však hlubší kulturní analýza Babišovy persony – taková analýza, která by zahrnula i kulturně-mytologické aspekty premiérova vystupování. Proto se zde budu věnovat interpretaci premiérovy popularity z pohledu mytologických a filmových archetypů.
The function of scandal can be approached as a kind of social drama semantically located between ritual (motivated expressive behavior) and strategy (conscious strategic action) (Turner 1980; Adut 2008; Alexander 2011). Often the scandal mediation process progresses through five stages: transgression (as a necessary prelude to scandal), secrecy (transgression is disclosed via whistleblowing or leaks), disapproval (moral indignation is demonstrated by the media and the public), damage (individual or institutional), and stabilization (i.e., return to everydayness). The performance of various interrelated actors in scandal co-constitutes the wider scandal narrative. This set of social performances becomes narrativized, framed and commodified by the media of communication as spectacle.
In Japanese scandal, I argue that the transgression does not matter as much as does the nature of their mediation, including the biased overmagnification and spectacularization of scandal events, which makes up for an attractive media commodity to organize audiences and attention. In general, scandals in Japan are numerous, short-lived and regressive—in other words, they are ritualized social dramas of “restorative justice” (shūfukuteki seigi) with often little or no lasting social impact or importance. This was also the case in the scandal involving the Japanese graphic artist Sano Kenjirō.
Keywords: Japanese scandal, Japanese media, secular ritual, social drama, confession, apologia
This paper investigates the main features of media scandal in contemporary Japan. This is important because it can add a fresh interdisciplinary direction in the fields of media studies, journalism, and Japanese philology. Furthermore, the sources from the mainstream media, semi-mainstream tabloids and foreign press were examined vie the lens of neofunctionalism where scandal is approached as a social performance between ritual (motivated expressive behavior) and strategy (conscious strategic action). Moreover, this research illuminates the logic behind the scandal mediation process in Japan, including the performances of both the journalists and the non-media actors, who become decisive for the development of every media scandal. In other words, the social drama of a scandal (and its construction as media event) represents a heterogeneous assemblage of various associated actors that together form a complex " scandal network " depending on their ideological and commercial leanings.
Cet article aborde des traits essentiels des affaires médiatiques dans le Japon contemporain. Il s'agit d'une étude interdisciplinaire qui enrichit non seulement le discours des sciences de médias et du journalisme, mais aussi la pholologie japonaise. L'inspiration théorique s'appuie sur la conception néo-fonctionnaliste du scandale en tant que performance sociale située à la limite du « rituel » (la conduite expressive à la motivation socioculturelle) et de la « stratégie » (une action stratégique délibéreée).
KEYWORDS
hero theory, antihero, transgressive fiction, Japanese heroes, Western heroes, good versus evil
keywords: media scandal, transgression, social theory
To many observers, the seemingly endless succession of scandals in politics, business, entertainment and other arenas may appear marginal — if amusing — but I argue that these events reveal a great deal about the society that produces them. What, then, can we learn from the funding scandal that ripped through the ruling party and will it have a lasting impact on Japanese politics?
In the last three decades, television in particular has excelled in bringing us shows about morally problematic characters to whom the audiences are drawn despite their darkness. While lacking traditional heroic qualities, these characters – at times labeled as antiheroes – may be flawed, immoral, and destructive, while some of them even resort to violence and murder, but they still have certain qualities that the audiences find emotionally relatable. They include gangster bosses (The Sopranos), serial killers (Dexter), drug dealers (Breaking Bad), bank robbers (Money Heist), corrupt politicians (House of Cards), murderers (The Wire), hackers (Mr. Robot), misanthropes (Curb Your Enthusiasm), and many others. Having a
cumulative audience of millions, these TV shows strongly resonated with (not only) American psyche and received unprecedented critical acclaim. They became the signature American art form, elevating their antihero protagonists to the status of millennial popcultural icons.
Link: https://a2larm.cz/2021/08/andrej-babis-jako-antihrdina-premier-v-mytech-a-fikci/
V současné době existuje nespočet analýz a teorií, které se snaží racionálně vysvětlit popularitu Andreje Babiše. Chybí však hlubší kulturní analýza Babišovy persony – taková analýza, která by zahrnula i kulturně-mytologické aspekty premiérova vystupování. Proto se zde budu věnovat interpretaci premiérovy popularity z pohledu mytologických a filmových archetypů.
The function of scandal can be approached as a kind of social drama semantically located between ritual (motivated expressive behavior) and strategy (conscious strategic action) (Turner 1980; Adut 2008; Alexander 2011). Often the scandal mediation process progresses through five stages: transgression (as a necessary prelude to scandal), secrecy (transgression is disclosed via whistleblowing or leaks), disapproval (moral indignation is demonstrated by the media and the public), damage (individual or institutional), and stabilization (i.e., return to everydayness). The performance of various interrelated actors in scandal co-constitutes the wider scandal narrative. This set of social performances becomes narrativized, framed and commodified by the media of communication as spectacle.
In Japanese scandal, I argue that the transgression does not matter as much as does the nature of their mediation, including the biased overmagnification and spectacularization of scandal events, which makes up for an attractive media commodity to organize audiences and attention. In general, scandals in Japan are numerous, short-lived and regressive—in other words, they are ritualized social dramas of “restorative justice” (shūfukuteki seigi) with often little or no lasting social impact or importance. This was also the case in the scandal involving the Japanese graphic artist Sano Kenjirō.
Keywords: Japanese scandal, Japanese media, secular ritual, social drama, confession, apologia
This paper investigates the main features of media scandal in contemporary Japan. This is important because it can add a fresh interdisciplinary direction in the fields of media studies, journalism, and Japanese philology. Furthermore, the sources from the mainstream media, semi-mainstream tabloids and foreign press were examined vie the lens of neofunctionalism where scandal is approached as a social performance between ritual (motivated expressive behavior) and strategy (conscious strategic action). Moreover, this research illuminates the logic behind the scandal mediation process in Japan, including the performances of both the journalists and the non-media actors, who become decisive for the development of every media scandal. In other words, the social drama of a scandal (and its construction as media event) represents a heterogeneous assemblage of various associated actors that together form a complex " scandal network " depending on their ideological and commercial leanings.
Cet article aborde des traits essentiels des affaires médiatiques dans le Japon contemporain. Il s'agit d'une étude interdisciplinaire qui enrichit non seulement le discours des sciences de médias et du journalisme, mais aussi la pholologie japonaise. L'inspiration théorique s'appuie sur la conception néo-fonctionnaliste du scandale en tant que performance sociale située à la limite du « rituel » (la conduite expressive à la motivation socioculturelle) et de la « stratégie » (une action stratégique délibéreée).
KEYWORDS
hero theory, antihero, transgressive fiction, Japanese heroes, Western heroes, good versus evil
keywords: media scandal, transgression, social theory
The first part of the talk focuses on Japanese scandal as “media product”, and it delves into the media's role in constructing, shaping, and distributing scandals in Japan. Here, I explicate the role of Japanese media organizations in a symbolic process of transforming leaked gossip into a full-fledged scandal.
The second part of the talk approaches Japanese scandal as “social ritual”. It explores the performative nature of scandal, highlighting how the scandal actors become characters in a larger social drama. Further, it demonstrates how the social drama of confession, exclusion and reintegration is turned into a spectacular media event with a high degree of ritualization.
The aim of this presentation is to offer a basic theory of antiheroism in popular fiction. After discussing the meaning of antihero in social and historical context, I explain why the aforementioned TV shows resonated so strongly with (not only) American psyche while receiving unprecedented critical acclaim. Further, I touch upon the basic tenets of antiheroism, including transgression and transformation, trauma and obsession, vendetta and vigilantism, and alienation and victimization. Finally, I will argue that today, we live in the Age of Antiheroes – an age defined by postconventional morality (Kohlberg) located “beyond good and evil” (Nietzsche). In this age, fiction is obsessed with filth and vice while people are more fascinated by darkness than light. In other words, the tradition of having a purely heroic central character is no more the trend: it is now the antihero who is the rule rather than exception.
I highlight the production logic of Japanese scandals by following a three-act structure, consisting of “leak processing”, “scandal proper”, and “climax & fadeout”. In this structure, whistleblowers forward compromising leak to the police, prosecutors, or the outside-media, whereas the involved power circles (sei-kan-zai) attempt to minimize negative media coverage. The inside-media usually ignore the tabloids' revelations while discouraging investigative journalism. Nonetheless, as the public indignation grows, the inside-media eventually start covering the case as well, giving shape to a full-blown scandal.
When I teach JPC, I distinguish the three “functions” of culture in general: it is not only the classical notion of culture as "imitation" (mimesis, re-presentation), but also culture as "cultivation" (contemplation, propaganda), and finally culture as "play" (deconstruction, convergence). In this framework, I focus more closely on the Japanese “culture of cuteness” (kawaii bunka). This is important, because kawaii is one of the most culturally pervasive aesthetics of the new millennium, and a strong economic driver in manga, anime, fashion, television, magazines and pop-music.
By analyzing their favorite cute characters, students can learn 1) how does kawaii culture imitate and essentialize lived experience through new performances and artifacts, 2) how does kawaii culture contribute to a “cultivation of the soul” (both positively and negatively) and finally 3) how does kawaii culture operate within the postmodern discourse (which lies in a playful emancipation via deconstruction, media-mixing, and proactive participation). Such pedagogy enables students to approach the ongoing kawaii fever in Japan not only as a spontaneous cultural boom promoting things Japanese, but also as a political process that appropriates the unique, subtly countercultural appeal in order to pursue an ideological and commercial agenda.
- kawaii is one of the most culturally pervasive aesthetics of the new millennium
- the popularity of kawaii culture can be traced to the cornerstones of Japanese culture and society (cf. Japan as "Kingdom of Cute")
- kawaii became a significant economic driver in manga, anime, fashion, television, magazines, pop-music, etc.
- Japanese consumers are apt to ignore political messages and advertisements without kawaii characters
My initial impression was that more than pursuing social consensus based on rational conflict resolution, Japanese scandals rather portend outrage, disgrace, and humiliation. I also noticed that the insignificant moral disturbances of Japanese (female) celebrities leads to a ritual shaming of the “sacred signified”, while Japanese (male) politicians are treated rather benevolently, scheming their comeback as soon as their scandal was concluded.
The hypocritical cries of corruption, the scandal frenzies, and the apathy of the Japanese public are often misunderstood by the foreign observer who limits himself to tongue-in-cheek explanations of the “ridiculousness” of Japanese scandal. These layman voices, however, motivated me to establish the central question of this treatise: what is the internal logic of Japanese media scandal, and how are Japanese scandals constituted by the power-networked, ritual-based performances?
FOKUS: Naratologické strategie, které publiku umožní modifikovat morální vzorce a užívat si hrdiny „mimo dobro a zlo“.
TÉZE: existují tři naratologické mechanismy, které mediují transgresivní antiheroismus jako morálně ospravedlnitelný:
1. SOCIÁLNÍ IDENTIFIKACE (zasazení identity hrdiny do úzkého sociálního kontextu)
2. INDIVIDUÁLNÍ MOTIVACE (soubor adekvátních opodstatnění toho, proč se hrdina chová tak, jak se chová)
3. OSOBNOSTNÍ CHARISMA (specifická aura, která obklopuje hrdinu/herce, včetně jeho vizáže, mluvy, nebo názorů)
KEYWORDS:
antihero theory, transgressive fiction, narratology, mediating violence, good versus evil, Nietzsche
Toward theory development, I provide a theoretical package for critical analysis of media scandal as a framed narrative translated into a spectacular pseudo-event. Furthermore, I analyse Japanese scandal as performance, structured by the dialectic of pollution, purification through exclusion, and reintegration. This is important, because in Japan, cultural ritualism and “adherence to algorithm” in everyday life bears rich cultural connotations that inform the understanding of Japanese scandal as a form of ritual.
After addressing the issue of structural corruption and media exposure, I briefly elaborate on four large-scale media scandals: the Sakai Noriko celebrity scandal (2009), the Ozawa Ichirō political scandal (2009), the Olympus Corporation industry scandal (2011), and the Sano Kenjirō Olympic plagiarism scandal (2015). I decode the general modus operandi of the mainstream media, weekly tabloids, non-media actors (e.g. the prosecutors) and other important players in the scandal-network of collusion and collaboration. The basic hypothesis is that scandal is a multifaceted social phenomenon: while simultaneously serving the interests of capitalistic media institutions, the scandal-rituals define social norms, reflect the values of society, and manage social transgression. However, in terms of their sociopolitical impact scandals are rather regressive media rituals that have little power to prevent future elite deviances.
attempt to step out of the originally Anglo-American media communication paradigm, where mainly American theories and approaches have been widely used to explain global media processes and communication patterns. Informed by the dewesternized perspective, we focus on the case of Japanese society, its reception of texts within everyday cultural practices and media routines, since these serve as platforms where ideological features are embedded, reproduced and maintained. We also deal with specific cultural forms of constructing and understanding of Self and Group in Japanese society, since these notions are again reflected in some patterns of Japanese interpersonal (verbal/nonverbal) communication. A significant space in this work is dedicated to Japanese mediascape, its past and present. We illuminate the specific role of media and its development in
Japanese history from the early beginnings up to the present time. We touch on the state-press relations and offer an organization analysis of the reporter´s club system (kisha kurabu). Finally, while being informed by the media hegemony theory, we point out the way how Japanese mainstream media represent and frame the state power, political agenda, corporate scandals, and cultural heroes.
advertisements, and offers its systematic organization.
1. úvod (chronologie tištěných médií od starověku po současnost)
2. prehistorie tištěných médií (do pol. 15.st)
3. období raného novověku (od pol. 15.st do konce 18.st)
4. období raně moderního vývoje (od konce 18.st do první svět. války)
5. období 20. století (od první svět. války do 1980/1990)
6. období přelomu milénia (20.a 21.století)
2. VEŘEJNÉ MÍNĚNÍ V POLITICKÉ FILOSOFII: HISTORICKÝ PŘEHLED
3. VEŘEJNOST A POLITICKÉ MYŠLENÍ V ANTICE
4. VEŘEJNÉ MÍNĚNÍ A STAROVĚKÝ ŘÍM
5. TEORIE VEŘEJNÉHO MÍNĚNÍ V 19. STOLETÍ (1): A. TOCQUEVILLE, J. S. MILL
6. TEORIE VEŘEJNÉHO MÍNĚNÍ V 19. STOLETÍ (2): J. BRYCE, G. TARDE, F. TÖNNIES
7. TEORIE VEŘEJNÉHO MÍNĚNÍ VE 20. STOLETÍ (1): H. ARENDT, W. LIPPMANN, I. A. BLÁHA, H. CANTRIL
8. TEORIE VEŘEJNÉHO MÍNĚNÍ VE 20. STOLETÍ (2): J. HABERMAS A PROMĚNA VEŘEJNOSTI
9. ANALÝZA KNIHY „VEŘEJNÉ MÍNĚNÍ“ (WALTER LIPPMANN)
10. POLITICKÁ KOMUNIKACE (1): VEŘEJNÝ KOMUNIKAČNÍ PROSTOR
11. POLITICKÁ KOMUNIKACE (2): MÉDIA A VEŘEJNÁ SFÉRA
12. VEŘEJNÉ MÍNĚNÍ A PŮSOBENÍ MÉDIÍ: AGENDA SETTING, PRIMING, FRAMING
13. FORMOVÁNÍ A MANIPULACE VEŘEJNÉHO MÍNĚNÍ: TWO-STEP FLOW, SPIRÁLA MLČENÍ, PROPAGANDA MODEL
14. VÝZKUM VEŘEJNÉHO MÍNĚNÍ: HISTORIE A METODOLOGIE
(citace): Pruša, Igor. “Japonsko v objetí sektářské chobotnice.” Lidové Noviny, 10. února 2024.