WRAPPING, MATERIAL CULTURE AND INTERPRETATION OF ART IN OTHER CULTURES. WRAPPING EMOTIONS: An Anthropological Analysis of Images, Wrapping and the representation of Emotions. This handout looks at how images can be analysed using ethnographic fieldwork and anthropological theory. This case concentrates on the famous Ukiyo-e (Japanese drawing) popularised during the Edo (1615-1868) and Meiji (1968-1912) periods in Japan. This paper considers three issues. First, it illustrates how anthropology can be used for the analysis of artistic forms (past and present) in different societies. Second, the analysis examines how anthropological theories (here theories about wrapping in Japan) can be used to analyse gender, emotions, and even politics in a given society. Thirdly, this case examines how easy is to misrepresent different societies through analysis of art forms and how anthropology can contribute to the understanding of representation of culture through art. UKIYO-E Ukiyo-e depicts characters in the performing arts, often actors and women of beauty (geisha and courtesans). Ukiyo-e concentrates its gaze on the act of self-presentation. The self is presented in an often stylised, highly aestheticised fashion. The female body is often heavily wrapped showing, however, different layers of looseness and constrain through the presentation of the kimono and its obi (belt). These layers of kimono often indicate the moral character of the women (i.e. a high-rank courtesan, geisha, or lowranking prostitutes). In a formal sense, the paintings
present the self. It also illustrates rules governing matters of dress, make-up, gestures, choreography and body movement (Pinkard 1999). The images bring out a simultaneous balance of composed serenity, eroticism, and intense pose. They are often accompanied by a poem or make direct allusion to an event or person. Here we examine a famous Ukiyo-e entitled Wakakusa (the name of the courtesan), which illustrate many of the aesthetic and social concerns of these Japanese period. I also contend that by looking closely at ethnographic details such as wrapping and games, we can start understanding how emotions are represented and understood through Japanese art. Courtesans, Prostitutes and Geisha: The Floating World and the Water Trade Women working on the water trade and the floating world included women of different ages, from early teens to middle age women, from both rural and urban areas. The entertainment and prostitution trades (there is often no clear-cut line between the two) included differe nt degrees of formal entertainment, art performance, seduction and sex with patrons. The extent to which women would dedicate her job to entertain and perform without having sex with patrons depended on her fame, position and fate. Although the line between prostitution and entertainment was not clear, most high ranked courtesans were expected to display erudition and skill in all tradition al arts. These included, calligraphy, music, shamisen, painting, dance, flower arrangement,
the literary classics, and tea ceremony. It also included the dressing of kimono, knowledge about sex and seduction, knowledge about flirtation through poetry, singing and dancing. Patrons would gather for tea, entertainment and food at the pleasure quarters and hire women for the different levels of entertainment. Geisha and courtesans were often depicted as living in a fantasy world where they had no knowledge of money and commercial transactions; often dreaming about handsome patrons and falling in love with them (a romantic event would always end with disillusion). Women worked in different capacities (according to a hierarchical rank among them similar to other existing social conventions on hierarchy) from serving food to reciting poetry. Women learned to produce intelligent conversation with their hosts and patrons and they were expected know a broad array of subjects and arts. One of their requirements was that they should be able to play games like, Go (in picture), Shogi (Japanese chess), and sugoraku (Japanese Parcheesi, backgammon). GO Our analysis concentrates on a picture where a courtesan, Wakakusa, is playing a game of Go. Most analysis of the Japanese society concentrate on the elements that attract contemporary taste: the division line between entertainment and prostitution, exotic trade, display of aesthetics, absence of emotions in social context, lavish decorations. While contemporary tastes look at the most exotic elements of the period, few others remain obscure. GO is one of these elements that most observers often dismiss as a secondary (something that the courtesan is doing) as if it had no social or symbolic relevance. However, Ukiyo-e painters had their own cultural and historical taste. They liked to represent courtesans. They insisted on their games and dresses. They wanted to reflect the daily life of courtesans. They did not question their jobs, which was not a big issue at the time. They used courtesans to represent the world of dreams, expectations, romance, flirtation, and in most cases the world of unfulfilled romances. It is then no surprise that the authors of this period chose to concentrate on games, and unlike contemporary observers, the games tell us more than we would expect. Here I have chosen a game of GO, because although it may not appeal to a western or contemporary audience, it certainly reflects many of the concerns of that period.
Go is known as the oldest game in China and Japan. The Origin of Go is unclear. It is supposed to have originated in Nepal 3.000 years ago as a game to settle and conquest boundaries between kingdoms. It then could have moved to China where it flourished and its first set of rules was created. It was exported to Japan during 600 BC during the first Chinese invasions of Japan. Go is played by two opponents who use white and black stones over a chessboard like board. The purpose of the game is to gain as much territory from your opponent whilst avoiding loosing stones to your opponent. Go, in particular, is often depicted among the artist of the floating world. Like the floating world itself, Go does not depend on formal rules but intuition and skills. In Go, like in seduction, men and women engaged together at the level of equals, and the result of the game depends very much on their skill on the opening moves, their capacity to acquire territory, and their strength (knowledge of go and seduction-). In many instances, Go is the ideal game to symbolise the games of seduction and control exercised by Geisha and other women. It is important to note here that Wakakusa, the courtesan is playing alone, she is either replying a game, or playing against herself or against an imaginary opponent. The choice of the game is no accident here. The courtesan in the game of go, Wakakusa, is opposed to the board. She is a solitary player moving its white stone in an early go-move. The go board is a territory, where players play as equals, to find their different strengths and gain that territory. It is for this reason that go appears in many paintings of this period. Here, the Go board comes to symbolise the territory of her life, a world where players conquer land and territory. Furthermore, in this print Wakakusa is holding the white stones, suggesting she was known as a strong go player (weak players start with black). She is also suggesting an introspective play, one where the player learns against herself, trying new moves, improving her strength. She is feeling the game (as opposed to thinking about the game), and has a dream-like quality (implicit in both, her face and white hand). In order to contextualise the game, in order to assess how the game is being used to symbolise erotic relations, her own strength and knowledge, it is necessary to look into the other aspect that was quintessential to this period: the wrapping of the body and the display of the body through clothes.
The self and wrapping Harunobu, the author, depicted women as having a doll-like quality (impassable, ornamented, an aesthetic object for male consumption). The doll-like qualities focus on the facial expression as well as to hair and robes. More importantly, the designs and patterns wrap the female body to display and camouflage the erotic trade. The body is sculpted with lavish clothes increasing its sensual appeal through the concealment of the body. The vanishing world is exulted to a category of art, removing its references to prostitution and trade, while keeping its sensual appeal. Ukiyo-e drawings concentrate on the performance of the self. The courtesan, the samurai warrior (another common Ukiyo-e theme), is each standing as a self with his/her attributes in full display: strength, beauty, power. The self is presented in opulence, mostly through the way it is presented to the viewer, dress, kimono, swords, with heavy ornamentation and heavy wrappings. Earlier drawings, like this one have less opulence of artifice. They also have an impassive timelessness than those of later periods. The character in the illustration follows a kind of Artifice in pose. They pose, graciously, like in a dance routine, with fixed movements, like an artifice. Their emotions are also posed, artificed. Emotions cannot be read in the face, their faces are quite emotionless, express little, they present a social face, one where the individual keeps his or her emotions to herself. Quite often Ukiyo-e is said to have a clear absence of direct emotion. Most authors, however, fail to acknowledge that Ukiyo-e artists liked to depict emotions in an indirect, covert, alluded way. While the face is presented as slightly emotionless, the emotions are conveyed through the presentation of the self. They are conveyed through the wrapping of the body (and also poems in the drawings). The result of using wrapping to express emotions is a paradox. By using wrapping to display emotions, the face shows greater, inner-self emotions. The face does not need to be painted with a lot of expression in order to express complex emotions. It is the contrast of a very expressive, non-verbal, material fabric what gives the quiet face expression. It directs the attention to where expressions are quietly but exuberantly expressed, in their clothes. In fact, the contrast between wrapping and face gives Wakakusa the power to express greater emotions that if the author had chosen to
paint a very expressive face. In fact, the use of wrapping is such that it allows the author to display the expression of emotions without having to unwrap the whole psychological make-up. In other words, wrapping (the body) is used to express emotions without having to unveil them at a psychological level. She expresses strong emotions without showing them in her face. She keeps her social persona, her social self in the real of quiet, non-expressive, polite manners. She presents her inner self through wrapping, expressing her inner emotions in her choice of clothes, and what she does to them. At a superficial level most descriptions of Ukiyo-e, see clothes as mere decorative, colourful garments. They have no other symbolism. This is highly surprising when the Edo and Meiji periods produced so much work about the social and symbolic importance of clothes. Many Ukiyo-e paintings, like this one, depict a world of sumptuous garments, extravagant colour and dispositions, rich fabrics and designs. They display great contrast of intense emotions and played-down manifestation of such emotions. I will argue that this contrast is usually expressed through the ways the kimono is layered, made to float, open or revealing. Playing games, wrapping the body There is a strong contrast in Wakakusa s dress. Wakakusa is dressed in a rich kimono, with a high-obi (belt) tied at the front. The top of the kimono is heavily tied. The bottom is in disarray. When we look at the top part, the inner-layers of the kimono are white and red, like that of a gift, before unwrapping. The top torso kimono colors suggests she is wrapped like a gift, or a gift. The obi is not at her waist but much higher, wide and clearly tide-up, as if she was wrapped with a knot. Furthermore, two layers structure the top obi, red and white. This combination represents auspiciousness in gifts. In contrast with the top, the lower part of her kimono is in disarray. Her right arm is obscured from view, her right sleeve slips down her side, pulling her outer kimono down (many characters of the floating world, hide one of their arms inside the clothes). She is wrapped in many layers, her body concealed behind the form of her clothes. A sensual move is suggested with her parting legs (see poem below), as the kimono reveals one of its inner layers.
Poems and movements Like her face, Wakakusa s hands stand poised and stylised, with finesse. Hands are important subjects in Go, as most of the Go strategy is based on one s ability to feel the game, and in many occasions to let the hand of Gods play through one s moves. The associations to auspiciousness in gifts (and also in the consumption of such gifts) in her robes, as well as the presence of her hand, stand in contrast with the loose robe, and the disarrayed, sensual and erotic lower part of her kimono. Her face is not empty of emotions. She is listening to the game and to the poem itself. Despite the degree of aesthetization in the painting, the wrapping of the self, and its levels of contrast show her emotions and thoughts, which in turn are reflected in the poem that accompanies the painting. The picture is accompanied by a short poem by herself, presumably in her own handwriting (Pinkard 1999). The haiku (seventeen-syllable poem) are full of double meanings and allusions to seduction and her trade. The poem says: Again they break, the fancy sandals she wears -- cherry-blossom salt. In Pinkard s analysis, each line tell us the identity of Wakakusa: Again they break means she parts her thighs. Pinkard, like other authors, however, fail to realise the relation between the poem written by the women and how the women presents herself. (Wakakusa s self is aestheticised in two ways, with the poem and through her use of clothes. The words are wrapped (Hendry 1999) in a poem. Her body is wrapped with a kimono, the kimono being heavily tided up in its top part, fastening the inner layers. The bottom is in disarray, opening and floating, with a clear outline of her legs. It is her kimono, heavily tided up, that breaks in an absentminded way while she is playing) Fancy sandals signify a prostitute; cherry-blossom alludes to a handsome lover; salt suggests a house in the pleasure quarters. The issue of salt is a complex one. Pinkhard, like other observers seem to argue that salt is part of some ancient tradition of purifying buildings which remains today. However, contemporary ethnographies suggest that the uses of salt are not
just a matter of purification. Salt is used in all houses to ward off inauspiciousness, especially during mourning periods. It prevents inauspiciousness. Salt is a ritual offering to ward houses off inauspiciousness, especially houses where people wander in and out (tea-houses of this period would have been constantly visited by strangers, thus being open to inauspiciousness that these patrons may carry with them). However the theme of the salt cannot be reduced to that of inauspiciousness. Salt appears as a complimentary gift and ritual offering (auspicious and inauspicious contexts). Salt is also offered a gift, a protective measure against inauspiciousness. While I agree with Pinkhard that salt can be interpreted as a suggestion to a teahouse in the pleasure quarters, it is possible to argue that salt is also part of an exchange relation between the lover and the courtesan. Many elements on the picture reinforce this idea. In particular, her kimono and the way she wears it. It is possible to argue that she is depicted as a gift. She is partially wrapped and unwrapped (heavily wrapped torso, unwrapped legs) in the colors gifts (including those of that accompany gifts of salt are) in white and red. Her kimono has a redwhite layer, which opposes the white-red (inverted order) of a bridal gown. The artists of Edo and Meiji period had a great interest in wrapping, being the period when most wrapping forms and wrapping clothes developed, including knots and ribbons. The Edo period saw great interest in defining aesthetics forms through wrapping, and wrapping papers became expensive gift items between samurai houses. It is not then surprising that the authors of the period had a great affinity or thought of wrapping as a particular means for expression. We could argue that the author was aware of the importance of wrapping. We could contend that the courtesan is then, a wrapped gift, to whom salt is offered (to her or to her house) in order to cleanse the gift and the exchange from inauspiciousness (the monetary, sporadic quality of relations in a tea house), or even to repay from earlier favours and gifts. The colors of her wrapping clothes also suggest that the content of the gift her body), as in conventional gift giving in Japan, will bring strength to those who open (auspiciousness is associated to the building of strength) and thus, to those who consume (have sex) the gift (the courtesan). She reinforces the objectification of her sexual status with the game of Go (here a metaphor for a game of conquest and seduction), while she attempts to transcend the objectification with her poem,
her strength in go, and the white hand (her opening move in Go is a strong one). Unlike her hand, her body is totally wrapped from view. The clothes only suggest the body, as it remains partially wrapped and partially open. The lower part of her body in disarray. Her parted legs are insinuated through the sensual flow of the kimono, but they are not visible. In contrast with the rest of her body, her hand (herself, her skill) comes out from the kimono and it is the only part of her body clearly visible. Her hand, unlike her body, is not about seduction. It is about strength. It is about her ability and her capacity (as a courtesan) to control her own game, to control seduction, and her own destiny. Conclusion: Representing emotions through wrapping The issue of emotions, and how these are represented have always puzzled Western observers. In most accounts, Japanese are depicted as not showing emotions, cleverly negotiating the different sides of the self: a public self the self of politeness, and private self, the self of emotions and inner thinking. The differentiation of levels (social, personal, polite, emotional) was quite prominent in aristocratic Japan and it surfaces quite often in the literature of Japan. Our understanding of how emotions are constructed at each different context has an impact on how we understand Japanese culture. From an ethnocentric point of view, Japanese cultural features appear exotic, mysterious. The psychology of people appears hard to understand, concealed under layers of politeness and wrapping. However, as anthropologists have questioned, this shows a narrow vision of the complexity of Japanese culture and how Japanese people present and represent emotions. There are many social and cultural contexts where we can try to understand how personal emotions are presented to others in public. In other word, how is the self displayed under the public gaze. In Edo and Meiji period s representations of the self, individuals are presented as being carefully positioned in a hierarchy, with emotions never taking place in public displays. Simultaneously, emotions are central to each presentation of the self. Observers are baffled with the effect that people are presented as not showing emotions. However, when we look at some artistic expressions of the period, the ones that closely look at romantic and sexual emotions, we saw a different picture emerging. When we look at art of the period we do find people displayed in terms of being carefully wrapped into his or her role,
emotions playing a little role in public contexts. The world of emotions, however, is at the core of the display albeit is found in an uncommon place: in the display of clothes, games and accessories. Emotions are presented like a world, like that of allusion, eroticism, kept in the private realm, expressed through poetry, painting, and what most observers fail to recognise, expressed through wrapping. If we think of wrapping as an important tool for understanding how emotions are presented and concealed to people, then, we can approach some of the meanings of the picture. We could argue that in the Ukiyo-e, Wakakusa s face and feelings are represented in the wrapping. Her face tells us very little. In fact it would be really inappropriate to display her making her face tell us about her emotions. The face does not need to represent emotions; the face represents how one is presented to the outside world. We could argue that what appears from our interpretation is that the face is not the place for manifesting emotions. Like many Ukiyo-e, she is depicted quite emotionless. But this is only a very superficial understanding of how emotions are represented in Japan through art. While the face is motionless and not so expressive of emotions, her wrapping is a rich emotional story. The wrapping, not her face, tell us about her inner emotions, and about her dreams. She dreams about her ability to control the game, which she also reflects in the poem, as she expects a handsome lover (a romantic ideal among courtesans), while she admits her own trade (sandals). The reference to gift giving and consumption are clearly eluded through the colour of the layering of clothes, and the use of salt in inauspicious contexts, thus she is protecting herself of any evil that may come her way. Wakakusa expresses her emotions in disarray while keep under control. She has a firm game to the game, she is a polished player, she can seduce, control, win a game. Simultaneously she is torn between two layers of emotions. On the one hand those represented by her control, tided obi, wrapped kimono, the formal and social appearances that she needs to display, on the other hand, the floating world, the allusions to her job, and her attitude in waiting for a handsome lover. Wakakusa herself becomes an allusion to a game of power between men and women, between patron and servant. Her dreams, ambitions, strength, the display of inner emotions are wrapped and exhibited at the same time. She is an item for sexual consumption, to be unwrapped but she is also an item to be protected (salt).
She is tightly wrapped but also loosely wrapped. This ambiguity and both, concealing and revealing increases the erotic theme of the picture, but it also enhances the artistic display of emotions, it makes them surface to the clothes (as opposed to surfacing through the face), visible while not apparent. By using clothes to represent inner contradictions, we get a chance to see the inside without having to unwrap the inside. There is no need to unwrap her psychological state, there is no need to deconstruct her emotions. They are all clearly expressed somewhere else, in her clothes; the ones that that wrap the self. In this respect wrapping stands as a physical representation of the inner-self, as an externalisation of emotions. Like many courtesans her emotions are about a romantic dream. A dream where courtesans wait for a lover, not a customer, someone to whom they can play as equals. The picture has its paradoxical instance in that t Wakakusa is presented as being empowered by her own skills in controlling her own game. She loses this power as she is depicted as if she lives a dream-like fantasy, and by doing so, the author strengthens the power of male representations (control over wrapping, what is seen and what is concealed) over female voices (her poem). ********************************************************************************************************************************* Using the analysis of wrapping and the symbolism of Go, can you appreciate how emotions are represented in this Ukiyo-e below? Note: The blind or screen behind the player on the left is also a type of wrapping (Wrapping the space (Hendry 1999)). The drawing shows several characters, one of which is a monk carrying an auspicious, wrapped, flowerpot with a short poem. A wrapped gift with furoshiki (blue wrapping cloth) is found on top of the furniture on the left. Again repeating the themes of gift giving, wrapping and auspicious giving.
Prints in order: Courtesans Playing Go. An Oban print by Eizan. Published by Izumiya Ichibei 1811 Wakakusa at the Go Board by Harunobu Suzuki 1770 From Yoshiwara Shunro Bijin Awase Sugata Kagami (beautiful women of the Yoshiwara quarters playing at the Go board) Women playing Go. Oban by Chikanoby, published by Katsuki Yoshikatsu in 1920 From the series Fujin Kurabe Reishiki no Zu (Ladies' Polite Behavior Compared in Pictures) Bibliography on Japanese Wrapping, Edo and Meiji periods, Ukiyo-e and Go Hendry, J 1993a Wrapping culture. Politeness, presentation and power in Japan and other societies. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Hendry, J 1998 To wrap or not to wrap: politeness and penetration in ethnographic enquiry in Man (4): 620-635 Hendry, J 1999 An anthropologist in Japan. Routledge, London. Trias i Valls, MA 1999 Wrapping Gifts. Ritual Prestations and Social Obligations in Contemporary Japan. University of Kent: Monographs Schrift, A 1997 The Logic of the Gift. Routledge, London. Yoshida, T 1981 The stranger as God: The Place of the Outsider in Japanese Folk Religion. Ethnology 20 (2): 87-99 Murasaki, L 1996 The Diary of Lady Murasaki. Trans. Bowring, R. Penguin Books, London Ekiguchi, K 1985 Gift Wrapping. Creative ideas from Japan. Kodansha International, London.
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