Tosaka Jun: A Critical Reader

Description

Tosaka Jun (1900-1945) was one of modern Japan’s most unique, urgent, and important critics of capitalism, Japanese imperialism, the emperor system, “Japanism,” and everyday life in imperial Japan. A philosopher trained at Kyoto University, Tosaka made major contributions to the advancement of Marxism and historical materialism in Japan, most notably as the central figure at the Yuibutsuron kenkyūkai. His writings reveal a true renaissance thinker, moving from the history and philosophy of science to profound and brilliant studies of everyday life, media, fascism, militarism, and what Tosaka called “The Japanese ideology.” His Marxist philosophy especially sought to move beyond a mechanistic Marxism, and to criticize the diverse ways in which cultural productions of the nation, the empire, and “Japan,” were deeply implicated in capitalist exploitation, imperialist domination in Asia, and fascist war. Contents Preface Introduction The Principle of Everydayness and Historical Time On Space (Introduction and Conclusion) The Academy and Journalism Laughter, Comedy and Humor The Fate of Japanism Theory of the Intelligentsia and Theory of Technology Liberalist Philosophy and Materialism The Police Function Film as a Reproduction of the Present Film Art and Film Here, Now The Actuality of Journalism and the Possibility of Everyday Critique The Dialectic of Laughter and Tosaka's Critical Theory Immaterial Technique and Mass Intelligence Filmic Materiality and Historical Materialism Notes toward a Critical Analysis of Chronic Recession and Ideology The Multitude and the Holy Family Notes on the Contributors Index