• Publisher: *cf.
• 176 pages
• Author: Luka Culiberg
• Original title: Japonska med nacionalnim mitom in mitološko nacijo

This work theoretically analyses the role of myth in the process of the Japanese state being transformed into a modern nation state after 1868. The point of departure is a simple but theoretically productive question: why do nation states, which are distinctly modern and therefore at least at first sight also rationalistic formations, need mythologies, which belong to pre-modern if not even archaic societies? The author thoroughly and comprehensively analyses the post-17th-century historical processes that have led to today’s exceptionally successful Japanese society and country. It also analyses ideological construction and shows that the problem of myth in modern society is not the only paradox in Japan. The work draws on the latest theories of nation and ideology and wittily develops them on non-European material. The book is clearly structured and attractively written. Its strong point is that it takes into account the works of contemporary Japanese social sciences and connects European and non-European theoretical achievements in view of the material that provides an appropriate horizon both for testing the power of theories and their further development. 

About the author

Luka Culiberg

Luka Culiberg (1978) is an Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. His fields of interest are Japanese history, society, and culture. His research also extends to the fields of the epistemology of sociological research, language and society, capitalism, modernity and the nation state.