Locating and Localizing the Art Networks: A Sociological Examination of the Roles of Place in Art Networks in Ueno, Tokyo in the Meiji Period

Locating and Localizing the Art Networks: A Sociological Examination of the Roles of Place in Art Networks in Ueno, Tokyo in the Meiji Period
This thesis focuses on the Ueno area in Tokyo in the Meiji period (1868−1912) and employs sociological concepts to analyze the roles of place in the art network. It uses the concept of “art network” based on three sociological theories, i.e., Howard S. Becker’s “art worlds” ([1982] 2008), Pierre Bourdieu’s “artistic field” (1993), and “actor–network theory (ANT)” developed by Michel Callon, Bruno Latour, and John Law (Latour 2005) to examine the dynamic relationship between people, objects, and place involved in the production of art. It further develops derivative concepts including “locally bound convention” from Becker’s and “location-based capital” from Bourdieu’s theory, and teases out “translation center” from ANT to investigate the issues with “place,” which has tended to be overlooked in the previous research. Through tracing the changing art networks in Ueno around the turn of the twentieth century, it demonstrates that the place of Ueno played intermediating and agentic roles in forming and strengthening the hybrid art networks. By locating the art network and localizing the sociological discussions, this thesis contributes to adding understanding to the modernization process of art in Japan and refining theories elucidating the relationship between the place and production of art.

Author

Mengfei Pan

Defended in

1 Jan 2021 – 31 Dec 2021

PhD defended at

Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies

Specialisation

Humanities

Region

Japan

Theme

Art and Culture
History