Lexington Books Aesthetics and Politics of Space in Russia and Japan: A Comparative Philosophical Study

Aesthetics and Politics of Space in Russia and Japan: A Comparative Philosophical Study examines the parallels between Russian and Japanese philosophies and religions by revealing a common concept of space in Russian and Japanese aesthetics and political theories. Thorsten Botz-Bornstein shows points of convergence between the two traditions regarding the treatment of space within the realm of identity (both individual and communal), and in formulations of the relationship between regionalism, localism and globalism. Russian and Japanese philosophers like Nishida, Watsuji, Trubetzkoy, and the Eurasianists transformed the traditional notion of communal space, which has always been seen as an organic time-space unity, into a sophisticated element very well described as "time-space development." Botz-Bornstein's comparative study also leads to an analysis of contemporary themes. Reflections on Noh-plays and icons, for example, permit him to untangle the relationships between the virtual, the dream, the imaginary, and reality. Virtual reality, as an environment that pulls users into itself, makes use of strategies that are also common in Noh-plays and icons, both of which share a particular conception of space. The "non-Western" alternatives presented in Aesthetics and Politics of Space in Russia and Japan can be considered as useful additions to contemporary political and aesthetic discourses. Review This erudite, expansive book undertakes a study of convergences-as distinct from comparisons- between the aesthetic manifestations and political implications of Russian and Japanese philosophies of space. . . . Aesthetics and Politics of Space is a generative example of recent scholarship engaged in repositioning both Russian and East Asian studies in a dynamic inter-Asian field of comparison or "convergence," to use Botz-Bornstein's own term.--Slavic and East European Journal An intellectual tour-de-force, Aesthetics and Politics of Space in Russia and Japan succeeds admirably on several fronts, including its presentation of the first sustained comparison of philosophies from Japan and Russia and the introduction of Botz-Bornstein's original concept of "convergence" as a convincing countermeasure to the facile critiques that modern scholars have often leveled against the alleged "totalitarianism" of major Japanese and Russian thinkers. This is a work of philosophy as well as on philosophy-a rare combination that makes this book required reading for anyone who cannot afford to ignore the world in which s/he lives.--Michael F. Marra, University of California, Los Angeles About the Author Thorsten Botz-Bornstein is assistant professor of philosophy at Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait.