|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
... Stunning oversized patterns and exuberant colours disappeared by the 1720s, when the innocently lavish and radiant Genroku mode began to be replaced by the darker, coolly sophiscated aesthetic called iki.
What is iki?
Iki meant a quiet sophiscation or restrained chic in both appearance and behaviour. Beyond this general meaning, three elements within ‘iki’ are also recognized. ...
What iki means to the Japanese
The development of iki reflects two aspects of later Edo society, one political, one stylistic. ... The other aspect of iki was more purely aesthetic – a reaction in terms of fashion’s pendulum, swinging from the obvious to the subtle, from bright colours to dark, and from huge freeform patterns to petite repeats. Iki was and is elegant, low-key, and has a more natural, understated feel than the earlier modes of dress and behaviour.
Iki denies the obverse and obvious; less is more. ... As a mode of expression, iki flaunted the rebellious heart even while concealing it.
Iki has had far-reaching impact in Japanese aesthetics. ... Derivatives iki, as social convention, works within Japan, where everyone understands the principle of façade and true feeling, but it hampers Japan mightily with its dealings with the international community. As with iki, the notion of concealing beauty and truth in places the eye cannot reach will work only when all are attuned.
Growing out of a necessity to be discreet, iki made discretion its virtue. ... The energy of iki lay in its streak of perversity.
Analyzing iki in the modern society
It would not be inappropriate to seek spontaneous manifestations of iki in modern fashion and hairstyle. In fact, certain modern cultural phenomena suit very well to affirm the existence of iki in contemporary society.
Approximate Word count = 1386
Approximate Pages = 5.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|