Articles
Ginkei and Co.: Commodifying Literati Identity in Nineteenth-Century Japan
Abstract
This article examines commercial publications by Hata Ginkei and his associates to understand how they used the labels of "literati" (bunjin) and "masters" (sensei) as advertisements. Combining literary analysis and historical contextualization, I argue that an emerging group of amateur cultural practitioners did not rely solely on selling, writing, and painting to make a living. They used their social connections and wealth to seek recognition in commercial publications through exchanges of cash and favors. Ginkei and his associates commodified literary identity in order to produce fictional rankings and compilations of calligraphy and painting. This led to an expanded group of "literati" in the mid-nineteenth century. However, by turning the identity of literatus into a title that amateurs could buy and authors could sell, Ginkei and Co. obscured the value of the cultural practices with which this identity had previously been associated. This article examines commercial publications by Hata Ginkei and his associates to understand how they used the labels of "literati" (bunjin) and "masters" (sensei) as advertisements. Combining literary analysis and historical contextualization, I argue that an emerging group of amateur cultural practitioners did not rely solely on selling, writing, and painting to make a living. They used their social connections and wealth to seek recognition in commercial publications through exchanges of cash and favors. Ginkei and his associates commodified literary identity in order to produce fictional rankings and compilations of calligraphy and painting. This led to an expanded group of "literati" in the mid-nineteenth century. However, by turning the identity of literatus into a title that amateurs could buy and authors could sell, Ginkei and Co. obscured the value of the cultural practices with which this identity had previously been associated.