Origami, the Silence of Self, and the Spirit of Vulnerability
Origami, the Silence of Self, and the Spirit of Vulnerability
This chapter examines the history of origami, notably streams that divided in early twentieth-century Japan, Europe, and the United States; the art of Linda Mihara; and the silence of self that employs indigenous interconnectivity to negotiate psychic bifurcation. The silence of self, illustrated with sign language notation, hybridizes the American independent self of integrity and the Japanese interdependent self of intimacy, a dichotomy portrayed in psychology and religious studies. The history of origami details its transformation in Japanese culture and European and American education, notably in the tradition of Friedrich Froebel. Explications of Linda Mihara's art reveal the cultural negotiation of Japanese American women as the "nice girl" and the preservation of a Japanese American conception of kami (Shinto spirits). These insights are brought together through psychoanalyst D. W. Winnicott's potential space, leading to a model of development for a non-binary or polytheistic self that can sustain multiple cultures.
Keywords: silence, Japanese Americans, origami, kami, psychoanalysis, Friedrich Froebel, potential space, independent self, interdependent self, nice girl
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