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- Convenors:
-
Blai Guarné
(Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Ronald Saladin (University of Trier)
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- Stream:
- Media Studies
- Location:
- I&D, Piso 4, Multiusos 3
- Sessions:
- Saturday 2 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Saturday 2 September, 2017, -Ludgera Lewerich (Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldorf)
Paper short abstract:
Analyzing media representations of rural Japan in the context of urban-to-rural migration, I argue that the portrayal of the countryside as furusato has been updated to appeal to a new generation, while still serving as an antithesis to feelings of uncertainty and alienation in today's society.
Paper long abstract:
In recent years urban-to-rural migration or counter urbanization, know as I-turn in Japan, has extensively been covered by the media. It is often discussed as a possible solution to revitalize the ailing rural regions. Several books and blogs provide guidance on how to succeed at inaka kurashi (country life), TV series like Osozaki no himawari tell stories of personal growth and fulfillment reached by moving from the city to rural Japan, and magazines like Sotokoto or Turns mostly portray the countryside as a place where young entrepreneurial people carve out their own unique lifestyles, building their dream business in rural areas.
In my paper I look at how the media discourse around I-turn thus combines well-known nostalgic and idealized images of rural Japan with contemporary values like work-life balance, self-realization and individual lifestyle as well as healthy, sustainable living.
As Creighton and Robertson point out in their research, furusato is not a specific place, but rather a generalized one that evokes a pre-modern village community encircled by nature. Representing a search for a collective national identity after World War II, it also serves as an antithesis to the hectic modern life in the metropolitan regions where communal ties have seemingly been lost. I will analyze how actors from the media, the prefectural and national government as well as many urban-to-rural migrants themselves work together to create an image of trendy rural Japan, a new kind of furusato which is appealing to younger generations. I propose that the current sociocultural focus on the rural regions as furusato is again used as an antithesis to feelings of alienation and insecurity in the Japanese society, updated to fit the desires of a new generation.
Luli van der Does-Ishikawa (Hiroshima University)
Paper short abstract:
2013年冬、中国からの越境大気汚染が日本全国で大々的に報道されて以来、汚染大気中の有害物質がもたらす健康被害、労働力低下、経済的な悪影響が懸念されているが、東アジアの政治社会的緊張関係のもとで国家責任としての抜本的な解決策が打ち出せない中、メディアは越境大気汚染問題における世論を刺激し牽引してきた。立法行政のみならず、地方自治体、学際、経済産業界、さらには一般市民を巻き込んで、リスク・警戒・責任・エンパワメントの言説が展開され、五段階を経て「好ましい言説」が抽出・伝播され、利害関係者間で浸透しつつ「自己責任」による全国的な健康管理製品の普及へと国境を越えて発展していったプロセスを解明する。
Paper long abstract:
The news of unprecedented levels of atmospheric air pollution, allegedly crossing territorial boundaries from China, first hit Japan in December 2013. The potential health risks posed by harmful pollutants and consequential reduction of labour productivity with economic implications have caused Japan serious concerns ever since. The state's immediate action was called for. However, there was no immediate solution, given sensitive security and territorial issues in the region, scientific and technological limitations in determining the polluter, judicial and legal hurdles of prosecution, and considerations for economic advantage in maintaining a favourable international relation. How can the state fulfil its obligation and responsibility to address the domestic issues of protecting the citizens under the complex international circumstances? The state of Japan turned to the media, which became the catalyst of diversifying and reassigning the responsibility to protect the citizens through mobilising both public and private stakeholders, extending the impact beyond the national boundaries.
This paper illustrates how the media coverage of the cross-border air pollution in the recent years have contributed to mitigate the state-citizen conflict over the issue of public health risk via the process of policy communication, mediation and implementation, thereby triggering responses from the stakeholders, including industrial, societal and other actors. In the process, the locus of responsibility to tackle the pollution shifted among these actors in five phases: risk-awareness raising: constant air-quality observation and dissemination of information by local municipalities; legitimising the risk and building consensus on immediacy of taking measures against risk; manufacturing of protective and climate-adaptable products, and mobilising the citizens to take responsible actions against the risks.
Discourse of Risk, Vigilance, Responsibility, and Empowerment developed in the mediated exchange among the social partners in this process, meanwhile the hegemony of a 'preferred discourse' of risk and responsibility became embedded. Comprehensive interdisciplinary analyses of the policy documents and media texts reveal how, by assimilation and association, the onus of responsibility shifted among the actors, and how the media have played a powerful role in the mass mobilisation towards self-protection.