Chapter 13 - David Malitz
The Nation as a Ritual Community:
Royal Nation-Building in Imperial Japan and Post-War Thailand
Employing Meiji Japan and post-war Thailand as examples and drawing on ritual and cognitive studies, this chapter argues that monarchies can be uniquely powerful institutions for nation-building. The unavoidable social inequalities and regional or cultural differences of the populations of nation-states are at odds with the idea of a cultural homogeneous nation consisting of members of a more or less equal status. These contradictions were arguably particularly acute in late nineteenth century Japan and post-war Thailand, when country-wide nation-building projects were undertaken, and where these projects meant the introduction of foreign practices and institutions. It is argued that as a ritual institution and multifaceted symbol, and through repetitive ritual performances, the monarchies served to reconcile the the contradictions inherent in nation-building, standing simultaneously for authentic and modern nations, for homogeneous as well as for regionally diverse and socially stratified nations.
By David Malitz
David Malitz
David Malitz received his PhD in Japanese Studies from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. He is currently teaching at an international program at the Faculty of Arts of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. He is interested in modern Japanese and Thai history.
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Keywords
Names not in bold are only mentioned once or are of lesser importance than those in bold.
Aizawa Seishisai; King Ananda; Walter Bagehot; Arthur J. Balfour (First Earl of Balfour); Bangkok; King Bhumipol; Chiang Mai; King Chulalongkorn; Prince Dhani Nivat; Fukuzawa Yukichi; Isan, Japan; Charles Keyes; Kyoto; Emperor Meiji; nation-building; Okubo Toshimichi; Ozawa Masachi; Phibun Songkhram; King Prajadhipok; Pridi Banomyong; Ritual; Queen Saovabha; Sarit Thanarat; Siam; Prince Subha Svasti; symbol; Thailand; Thanom Kittikachorn; Tokyo; Wichit Wathakan; King Vajiravudh
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