Presentation Title

Bridging Metacultural and Esocultural Perspectives on UNESCO and ICH

Abstract

This talk explores the disconnect between different understandings of ICH (and particularly of the UNESCO ICH Representative List). It will be suggested that UNESCO, and many state governments and bureaucracies, achieve a metacultural perspective in which different traditions are viewed within a cognitive landscape of heritage elements on a global scale. In contrast, the local communities in which a particular element of ICH is practiced often have what I call an “esocultural” perspective, in which the view is from deep within the community/culture/tradition looking outward. Metacultural and esocultural perspectives are both limited in their own ways. By specific reference to my own experiences working with Koshikijima no Toshidon (inscribed on the Representative List in 2009) and the residents of Shimo-Koshikijima in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, I hope to highlight the effects of these differences in perspective and suggest ways in which stakeholders might work to bridge them.

Biography

Michael Dylan Foster is a Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Davis. He teaches classes on Japanese folklore, literature, heritage, tourism, and popular culture. He is the author of The Book of Yōkai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore (University of California Press, 2015), Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yōkai (University of California Press, 2009), and the co-editor of The Folkloresque: Reframing Folklore in a Popular Culture World (Utah State University Press, 2016). In addition, he has undertaken extensive fieldwork on Japanese festival and ritual, particularly in Akita Prefecture and Kagoshima Prefecture, and co-edited UNESCO on the Ground: Local Perspectives on Intangible Cultural Heritage (Indiana University Press, 2015). He has also written numerous articles on Japanese folklore, literature, and media.