Analogous Exceptionalisms within Japanese and American History: Kokugaku and Transcendentalism
Japanologists have identified the intellectual movement called Kokugaku (“national learning”) as early modern Japan’s version of nativism, even though it bears no resemblance to the original American version of nativism from the 1840s, namely Know-Nothingism. Instead, Kokugaku had striking intellect...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/5/409 |
| _version_ | 1827666904350720000 |
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| author | Mark Thomas McNally |
| author_facet | Mark Thomas McNally |
| author_sort | Mark Thomas McNally |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Japanologists have identified the intellectual movement called Kokugaku (“national learning”) as early modern Japan’s version of nativism, even though it bears no resemblance to the original American version of nativism from the 1840s, namely Know-Nothingism. Instead, Kokugaku had striking intellectual and institutional similarities with pre-Civil War Transcendentalism. Americanists have associated Transcendentalism with the broader ideological phenomenon known as exceptionalism, rather than with nativism. For this reason, this article proposes to reclassify Kokugaku as exceptionalism, instead of nativism, via a comparison between it and Transcendentalism. The intellectual linchpin between Transcendentalism and exceptionalism is Fichte, whose ideas influenced Japan’s literary genre known as Nihonjinron (“theories of Japanese[-ness]”), the modern successor of Kokugaku, a connection that bolsters the intellectual legitimacy of the view that Kokugaku and Transcendentalism are analogous versions of exceptionalism. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:59:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-be598116d7024bc5a052a15833488733 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:59:10Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-be598116d7024bc5a052a158334887332023-11-23T12:52:31ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442022-04-0113540910.3390/rel13050409Analogous Exceptionalisms within Japanese and American History: Kokugaku and TranscendentalismMark Thomas McNally0Department of History, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USAJapanologists have identified the intellectual movement called Kokugaku (“national learning”) as early modern Japan’s version of nativism, even though it bears no resemblance to the original American version of nativism from the 1840s, namely Know-Nothingism. Instead, Kokugaku had striking intellectual and institutional similarities with pre-Civil War Transcendentalism. Americanists have associated Transcendentalism with the broader ideological phenomenon known as exceptionalism, rather than with nativism. For this reason, this article proposes to reclassify Kokugaku as exceptionalism, instead of nativism, via a comparison between it and Transcendentalism. The intellectual linchpin between Transcendentalism and exceptionalism is Fichte, whose ideas influenced Japan’s literary genre known as Nihonjinron (“theories of Japanese[-ness]”), the modern successor of Kokugaku, a connection that bolsters the intellectual legitimacy of the view that Kokugaku and Transcendentalism are analogous versions of exceptionalism.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/5/409KokugakuTranscendentalismUnitarianismShintoexceptionalismFichte |
| spellingShingle | Mark Thomas McNally Analogous Exceptionalisms within Japanese and American History: Kokugaku and Transcendentalism Religions Kokugaku Transcendentalism Unitarianism Shinto exceptionalism Fichte |
| title | Analogous Exceptionalisms within Japanese and American History: Kokugaku and Transcendentalism |
| title_full | Analogous Exceptionalisms within Japanese and American History: Kokugaku and Transcendentalism |
| title_fullStr | Analogous Exceptionalisms within Japanese and American History: Kokugaku and Transcendentalism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analogous Exceptionalisms within Japanese and American History: Kokugaku and Transcendentalism |
| title_short | Analogous Exceptionalisms within Japanese and American History: Kokugaku and Transcendentalism |
| title_sort | analogous exceptionalisms within japanese and american history kokugaku and transcendentalism |
| topic | Kokugaku Transcendentalism Unitarianism Shinto exceptionalism Fichte |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/5/409 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT markthomasmcnally analogousexceptionalismswithinjapaneseandamericanhistorykokugakuandtranscendentalism |