Emotions and politics are heavily intertwined, each feeding into the other. Emotions play a critical role in the way that politics are implemented, while politics manipulate and shape emotions according to its aims. Worldwide, politicians play with emotions that accompany national identity in order to achieve their goals. Campaigns, policies, laws – these all rely heavily on shaping and strategically showing emotion to come to fruition.
One example of this relationship is how the manipulation of emotions of pride and concern played an important part in the colonial exploits of both America and Japan. The narrative of “we know what’s best” and “we will help you find yourselves” was a way of justifying the political actions going on and gaining the respect and support of the citizens. Another example of the way politics and emotions work together can be found in the campaign strategies of both Abe and Trump. Both intentionally interact with sentiments of national pride, anxieties about the present, and nostalgia for some great past in order to gain support.
The first question I would ask Professor Leheny concerns the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima. He mentioned in his book that anxiety and anger became prominent in America’s political and social scene after the 9/11 attacks. For America, this is one of our greatest and most defining disasters, and both the event itself and the ensuing emotions greatly affected politics. I imagine that the Hiroshima bombing plays a similar role in Japan, and I’m wondering how the emotions and change of identity revolving around that event became a political tool or source of manipulation for politics. How did politics change after the event? What sentiments surrounding the bombing did politicians strategically pull from?
The second thing I would ask would be about the depiction of Japanese national identity in film. He briefly touched upon this in his lecture, but I’m curious to know more about the ways in which Japan differs from America. In a class I took last quarter, we discussed how war movies like Rambo were a way for Americans to see themselves, post-Vietnam War, as tragic heroes, bringing pride and success back to American society via pain and sacrifice. It was a narrative that played on the emotions of Americans feeling like they had lost something, and the representation of hard work and sacrifice that brought them back to themselves. I’m curious to know which movies in Japan fulfill a similar role, if any, and which events and emotions they interact with.
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