Orientalism-based accounts on Japan and anti-information game – case study

Abstract

Orientalism-based accounts (known as careless narrations) on Japan and on various manifestations of Japanese culture seem to constitute inevitable elements of social communication in an era of universality and the cyclical nature of mass communication. Thus, it may be worthwhile examining their informative value, especially due to the possibility of easy verification of source facts, also provided by the contemporary media-based society. In this paper, as examples of peculiar anti-information games, the orientalism-related accounts by Joanna Bator and Beata Pawlikowska available to Polish readers are presented. Despite the distinct factual carelessness visible at first sight in the analyzed texts, they seem to reveal the outlines of interesting trends in examining the world. This is achieved by the
light-hearted and unrestrained (although not always unproductive) ludic
creative activity, of which they are a genuine and unconsidered expression.