Bombyx and Bugs in Meiji Japan: Toward a Multispecies History?

In the lively, experimental spirit of multispecies research, I explore how a broader view of the domesticated silkworm species, which includes the “bugs” that afflicted it, forces us to reenvision familiar histories of sericulture that centered upon the means and end of “silk making.” In this case,...

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Main Author: Onaga, Lisa A.
Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/83801
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41477
http://sfonline.barnard.edu/life-un-ltd-feminism-bioscience-race/bombyx-and-bugs-in-meiji-japan-toward-a-multispecies-history/
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-838012019-12-06T15:32:21Z Bombyx and Bugs in Meiji Japan: Toward a Multispecies History? Onaga, Lisa A. School of Humanities and Social Sciences history of science history of animals In the lively, experimental spirit of multispecies research, I explore how a broader view of the domesticated silkworm species, which includes the “bugs” that afflicted it, forces us to reenvision familiar histories of sericulture that centered upon the means and end of “silk making.” In this case, a “multispecies” history draws our attention to the materiality of the biotic world that humans and nonhumans cohabit in order to produce a more holistic view of what “make silk.” The essay looks beneath the shine and sheen of silk in order to consider different issues that stoked or promoted the production of raw silk as well as motivated the reach (or blockade) of this commodity to a predominantly North American market in the first half of the twentieth century. This requires a deliberation of the activities that went into making raw silk in Japan, especially a deeper recognition of the insect employed for this purpose, the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, and its parasites. This closer, organism-centric look at textiles thus makes clear the critical value of asking why silk could be marshaled overseas on the scale that it did by the 1910s and 1920s. Accepted version 2016-09-22T09:22:13Z 2019-12-06T15:32:21Z 2016-09-22T09:22:13Z 2019-12-06T15:32:21Z 2013 Journal Article Onaga, L. A. (2013). Bombyx and Bugs in Meiji Japan: Toward a Multispecies History? Scholar & Feminist Online,11(3). 1558-9404 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/83801 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41477 http://sfonline.barnard.edu/life-un-ltd-feminism-bioscience-race/bombyx-and-bugs-in-meiji-japan-toward-a-multispecies-history/ en Scholar & Feminist Online © 2013 Scholar & Feminist Online (Published by The Bernard Center For Research On Women). This is the author created version of a work that has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication in Scholar & Feminist Online, published by The Bernard Center For Research On Women on behalf of Scholar & Feminist Online. It incorporates referee’s comments but changes resulting from the publishing process, such as copyediting, structural formatting, may not be reflected in this document.  The published version is available at: [http://sfonline.barnard.edu/life-un-ltd-feminism-bioscience-race/bombyx-and-bugs-in-meiji-japan-toward-a-multispecies-history/]. 14 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic history of science
history of animals
spellingShingle history of science
history of animals
Onaga, Lisa A.
Bombyx and Bugs in Meiji Japan: Toward a Multispecies History?
description In the lively, experimental spirit of multispecies research, I explore how a broader view of the domesticated silkworm species, which includes the “bugs” that afflicted it, forces us to reenvision familiar histories of sericulture that centered upon the means and end of “silk making.” In this case, a “multispecies” history draws our attention to the materiality of the biotic world that humans and nonhumans cohabit in order to produce a more holistic view of what “make silk.” The essay looks beneath the shine and sheen of silk in order to consider different issues that stoked or promoted the production of raw silk as well as motivated the reach (or blockade) of this commodity to a predominantly North American market in the first half of the twentieth century. This requires a deliberation of the activities that went into making raw silk in Japan, especially a deeper recognition of the insect employed for this purpose, the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, and its parasites. This closer, organism-centric look at textiles thus makes clear the critical value of asking why silk could be marshaled overseas on the scale that it did by the 1910s and 1920s.
author2 School of Humanities and Social Sciences
author_facet School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Onaga, Lisa A.
format Article
author Onaga, Lisa A.
author_sort Onaga, Lisa A.
title Bombyx and Bugs in Meiji Japan: Toward a Multispecies History?
title_short Bombyx and Bugs in Meiji Japan: Toward a Multispecies History?
title_full Bombyx and Bugs in Meiji Japan: Toward a Multispecies History?
title_fullStr Bombyx and Bugs in Meiji Japan: Toward a Multispecies History?
title_full_unstemmed Bombyx and Bugs in Meiji Japan: Toward a Multispecies History?
title_sort bombyx and bugs in meiji japan: toward a multispecies history?
publishDate 2016
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/83801
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41477
http://sfonline.barnard.edu/life-un-ltd-feminism-bioscience-race/bombyx-and-bugs-in-meiji-japan-toward-a-multispecies-history/
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