A Sociological Study of the Relationship between Place and Art Networks: Case Studies of Shinobazu Pond and West Lake

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K12903
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01070:Theory of art practice-related
• Research Institution: Kokugakuin University (2022-2023); Aoyama Gakuin University (2021)
• Principal Investigator: PAN Mengfei 國學院大學, 観光まちづくり学部, 助教 (40871231)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 場所 / 地図学 / 歴史学 / 近代 / 芸術実践 / コミュニティ研究 / 博物館学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research examined the relationship between “place” and “art networks”, focusing on the Ueno area of Tokyo and Oiso in Kanagawa Prefecture during the Meiji period. It used the concept of “place” in the fields of sociology and critical geography and scrutinized letters, diaries, biographies, gazettes, maps, in order to elucidate how “map-mapping” contributed to the formation of community and identity. Another target was the architectural competition of new main building of the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum. It re-examined the discourse in the 1930s and explored the various thinkings and expectations towards this institutional place. By reconsidering “maps” and “museums” that represent and underpin modernity, this research achieved to demonstrate the complexity of the modernization process and the ambiguity of the boundary of “art”.

Free Research Field

社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

芸術社会学、美術と文学を対象とした歴史研究、及び都市研究においては、場所と芸術生産の関係に注意が払われていない傾向が指摘できる。本研究は、明治期から昭和前期にかけて、事例研究を通して、「ものづくり」、「場所づくり」、さらに自己とコミュニティの形成、三者間の関連性を裏付けた。抽象的かつ欧米中心の社会学の概念に具体的な事例分析、「近代」に関して無頓着な傾向を示す地理学の理論に歴史的な検証を付け加え、それらの概念と理論の精緻化を試みた。また、一元に語られやすい「近代」の複数形、抵抗的でオルターナティブな場所を発見した。地域づくり（まちづくり）へ批判的な視座と実践につながることも期待できる。