Subjective Decolonization and the Emergence of the Critical Perspective-Rereading of Okonogi Keigo’s Theory of Maternity

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Curricular Possibilities: Reflections and Narratives of (Cultural) Education (Table 26)

Abstract

Okonogi Keigo, a Japanese psychoanalyst, theorized the maternity represented in the post-war Japanese discourses of motherhood. His theory of maternity has been read as a cultural theory, primarily through his Ajase complex theory, which concerned the child's separation from the mother. My study aims to reread Okonogi's theory of maternity as the critical research on masculinity that offers some insights into the forming of caring masculinity in Japan. In this presentation, I will shed light on Okonogi's work as a family psychiatrist and show how Okonogi came to criticize the men's role in the family. I will then provide Okonogi's insights into the psychological challenge of transgressing the gender boundary in Japan.

Author

• Naoki Takemura, University of British Columbia