The "sacred" standing for the "fallen" spirits: Yasukuni Shrine and memory of war. Issue 4 (1st October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lee, JongHwa
• Is Part Of: Journal of international and intercultural communication. Volume 9:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 368
• Page End: 388
• Publication Date: 2016-10-01
• Subjects: Memory -- space -- history -- nationalism -- war; Communication, International -- Periodicals; Intercultural communication -- Periodicals; 303.48205
• DOI: 10.1080/17513057.2016.1142597
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-3057

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This essay examines the rhetoric/politics of Yasukuni Shrine as an experiential memory-scape, a material and discursive ground to frame and enact banal patriotism and militant nationalism. As a powerful mnemonic and rhetorical institution, Yasukuni Shrine (re)produces a nationalistic narrative and identity by (con)fusing natural feelings of individual grief and cultural tradition of commemoration with national heritage of banal patriotism. By (con)fusing what is "particular" and "universal, " Yasukuni Shrine establishes its rhetorical ground to justify a "banal" sense of patriotism that slips into the "ordinary yet honorable" fervor of militant nationalism, while effectively evading its moral/ethical reflexivity.