Abstract

This thesis is my exploration of what the landscape of peace, onto which past relevant actors' discourses and practices of peace and my interlocutors' present practices of peace are inscribed, represents and silences, and how my interlocutors, who relate their activities to the concept peace, make sense of the concept peace. In the literature in the field of anthropology of peace, peace has been what is defined by the anthropologists, not by their interlocutors. In other words, the anthropologists' definitions of peace have silenced their interlocutors' understandings of peace. This whole thesis was written as a critique of how these anthropologists of peace have silenced their interlocutors' own understandings of peace. I explored how discourses and practices that actors involved related to the concept peace in the past and my interlocutors' present practices are inscribed onto the landscape. Hiroshima city has been explicitly designed as a "peace (memorial) city". Reconstruction of ruined Hiroshima as a "peace (memorial) city" enabled the city government to obtain special subsidies, with which the city government constructed many facilities including the Peace Memorial Park, but at the same time, it oppressed and silenced despondent voices and uncomfortable feelings of many citizens, the majority of whom were A-bomb victims. In the Peace Memorial Park, there are many objects such as buildings, monuments, and A-bombed trees, which were erected or have been preserved by a variety of actors who thought these objects symbolize their hope for peace. Many of the objects in the park represent the master narrative of peace in Hiroshima which links the atomic bombing with the concept peace. In my fieldwork, as a guide, I took my guests to a dozen of the objects in the park in my guided tours. My guided tour, which centered on what the objects in the Peace Memorial Park represent, contributed to the hegemonic narrative of peace, which silences many voices. In a Foucauldian sense, I was formed as a subject of the hegemonic discourse of peace in Hiroshima. With this as a backdrop, I inquired how my interlocutors make sense of the concept peace especially in relation to their activities that they relate to the concept peace. Although they clearly relate their activities to the concept peace, their thoughts on peace are rarely made manifest. The foregrounded concept peace silences their understandings of peace, which differs from one another. Many of my interlocutors' understandings of peace are counterposed to their understandings of what happened in Hiroshima.

Department

Sociology, Egyptology & Anthroplology Department

Degree Name

MA in Sociology-Anthropology

Graduation Date

Fall 2-2018

Submission Date

9-7-2017

First Advisor

Munira Khayyat

Committee Member 1

Hanan Sabea

Committee Member 2

Akiko Naono

Extent

169 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Approval has been obtained for this item

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