| Publication |
2010.
|
| Summary/Abstract |
Touch, as it is conventionally conceived, appears to be lacking in everyday Japanese intimate relationships, which are accordingly commonly characterised in terms of subtle non-tactile and non-verbal forms of communication; feelings are expected to be inferred. However, it is unclear as to how such forms manifest feelings of closeness in the first place. This paper explores the embodied experience in the intimate spaces of the Japanese family. Japanese parent-child relationships help us to become acquainted with different ways of understanding bodily intimacy and touch. The paper explores the cultural meaning of touch in Japanese bodily intimacy, particularly where the child is under five years old, and presents an embodied and sensuous understanding of the touch which informs parent-child relationships as the child grows older. Certain phenomenological tools are used helping to develop the notion of a blurring of the boundaries between bodies in Japanese bodily intimacy.
|