Team Research2024

Mouths and Noses: A Cultural History of the Junctures between the Human Body and the Outside World in Japan

Unit

Perspectives on Nature/Perspectives on Humanity

This is collaborative research on cultural history as it relates to the mouth and nose. In this time of pandemic prompted by Covid 19 infection, humankind has no option but to wear masks that cover the mouth and nose. Contact and contestation between people and nature arises principally in the mouth and nose. This project understands the mouth and nose as a crossover space between the human body and the outside world. Living human beings incept air, food, medicine and scent through the mouth and nose. The reception, obstruction and expulsion of viruses and bacteria takes place through those two organs. Practices differ according to era and region, but the cultural influences pertaining to the mouth and nose in terms of public health (for example the wearing of masks) have proved to be greater than anyone imagined. The post/with corona situation has made this clear to us. There is now a need for international multidisciplinary work that focuses on the historical culture of the mouth and nose. Such research, it goes without saying, calls for a flexible collaboration between the two disciplines of the humanities and the sciences. Our project will engage scholars and intellectuals regardless of discipline. We seek people with backgrounds in both humanities and the sciences from the fields of history of pandemics, environment, food culture, as well as medical anthropology, pharmacology, and literature.

センター研究者等	磯田　道史	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
共同研究員	朝吹　真理子	小説家
〃	伊藤　謙	ミュージアム・リンクス・講師
〃	住田　朋久	慶應義塾大学大学院社会学研究科・訪問研究員
〃	橋爪　伸子	同志社大学経済学部・非常勤講師
〃	東　昇	京都府立大学文学部・教授
〃	村山　聡	香川大学・名誉教授