2019 Global Research Trips

Theatrical Representations of Traditional Chinese Heroines

Understanding Japanese Poet Yosano Akiko

April 24, 2019 | Nancy Jordan Hamilton (East Asian Studies)

In 1928, the celebrated Japanese poet and literary figure Yosano Akiko traveled in Manchuria and composed a travelogue comprising both a prose narrative account and a poetry collection. My research centers on the poetry, which has often been ignored in the scholarship, and how the poetry adds to our understanding of Akiko's experience in Manchuria and, in particular, her positionality with respect to Japanese imperialism.

During my trip, I went to three locations in Japan, including:

1. Sakai City, where I attended a museum exhibit and a lecture centered specifically on Akiko's travelogue. At the museum, I was able to spend time with the curator of the exhibit, the professor who gave the lecture, and the family who donated the letters upon which the exhibit was based.
2. Tokyo, where I conducted research at the National Diet Library. Here, I was able to find one of the first publications of Akiko's poems from her travels in a 1928 women's magazine.
3. Yokohama, where, at the Yokohama Central Library and the Kanagawa Prefectural Library, I was able to view the 1928 newspaper in which Akiko's travelogue was serialized over a six-month period.

During my trip, I gained many valuable insights. In Sakai, I was able to view first-hand never-before-revealed letters written by Akiko as part of her correspondence with the official who invited her to Manchuria. These letters shed light on the circumstances surrounding the impetus for the visit, which had been murky up to this point. The fortuitous meeting with the curator and the family that donated the letters added invaluably to my understanding of the historical and personal context of that moment.

In Tokyo, while researching the appearance of Akiko's poetry in the women's magazine, Fujin no Tomo,I also ran across an interview with Akiko in which she elaborates on her experiences in Manchuria. This serendipitous discovery sheds light on Akiko's thoughts directly after returning to Japan.

In Yokohama, I was able to see first-hand Akiko's travel account as it was serialized in over 25 entries in the Yokohama Trade Newspaper from June to December of 1928. I was able to view the entries in their print context, gleaning valuable insights regarding how the entries were viewed by readers at the time. For example, I learned that the entries always appeared as the top feature on page one of the Sunday paper, in the place where an editorial would have normally appeared on other days. News context and advertisements also provide valuable context that describes the nature of Akiko's readers in terms of their news diet and consumer opportunities.

I could never had imagined how beneficial this trip would be for my project. My impetus for the visit was to view the newspaper in Yokohama which, in and of itself, was truly exciting. However, the trip turned out to be full of additional serendipitous events that were of tremendous value to my research.

The museum exhibit in Sakai, which revealed the discovery of the letters, happened to be taking place during the same time as my visit, and I was able to adjust my flight  to view this exhibit right before it closed. The fortuitous meeting with the professor, the curator, and donor's family introduced me to three lovely  and deeply knowledgeable individuals who so generously shared their insights with me. The interview in the women's magazine that I found in Tokyo was also an unexpected discovery. The time I spent poring over the newspaper entries in Yokohama also yielded additional unexpected discoveries including an editorial published by Akiko herself in the weeks after her serialization ended. An additional serendipitous development was the fortuitous meeting with a scholar whose work I have been avidly following. We met coincidentally at the museum exhibit in Sakai and were able to spend valuable time in conversation. 

And finally, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom just as I was about to depart from Japan. I could not have imagined a better research experience for me in what is sure to become my most memorable trip to Japan.

Indigenous Linguistic and Cultural Renovation Efforts

May 9, 2019 | Marleny Deleon (Latin American Studies)

I traveled to Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, where many of the experts on the indigenous groups I am studying reside. From these in-depth interviews, I found leading experts on Sonora’s indigenous groups.

I became fascinated by the story of Mexico’s indigenous population in Sonora after reading about thousands of its captured indigenous women who were sent to my native Guatemala as slaves and then disappeared from the historical record. From the seed of this tragic mystery, I began investigating Sonora’s indigenous peoples from my home in Tucson, which is only 60 miles to the Sonoran border.

As an undergraduate, I did ethnographic fieldwork among the Comcáac (Seri), Tohono Oʼodham (Pima), Yoeme (Yaqui), and Yoreme (Mayo) in Sonora and Arizona. From my observations of population numbers and acculturation levels, something curious emerged. Comparing the Sonoran indigenous population numbers at the time of initial Spanish contact with today’s figures, we find that the indigenous groups who most easily acculturated were among the most populous. Sonora’s most populous indigenous group, the Ópatas, lived in a culture parallel to that of the Spanish, and by the time of Mexico’s first indigenous language census in 1900, they had completely acculturated into the mestizo population without a single speaker of the language left. In contrast, indigenous groups with lesser populations–those who have been most severely persecuted in the last 400 years–continue in their plight to preserve their cultural and linguistic heritage today.

My review of the indigenous literature of Sonora found close to 20 books available on both the Comcáac and the Yoeme in the Stanford library, however, there was a complete paucity of books that interrelated the stories of the indigenous peoples of Sonora, and what was available was fractured. As a result of the fragmented narrative I discovered through my literature review, I have tried to correlate the various indigenous histories and examine those factors leading either to cultural and linguistic preservation or to acculturation among the indigenous populace of Sonora.

With my research, I hope to illustrate the potentials and pitfalls for indigenous language preservation. I am paying particular attention to two of the smallest Sonoran indigenous groups who fought acculturation and who retreated to inaccessible natural sanctuaries to maintain their language and culture as living polarities to the Spanish.

While in Tucson, I contacted and interviewed Dr. David Yetman of the University of Arizona, who is an expert in the Comcáac and Guarijíos.  I also made a trip to Phoenix, where I interviewed Dr. Octaviana Trujillo of Northern Arizona University who is among the foremost authorities on the Yoeme (Yaqui) language usage and revitalization. Dr. Trujillo put me in contact with Dr. Zarina Estrada Fernández of the University of Sonora for further details about the Yoeme language revitalization in Sonora. During this trip, I also met with Dr. Deborah Chadwick, the indigenous education graduate director at Arizona State University, and I learned about the educational projects in Arizona for the revitalization of native languages.

Without the Stanford Global Studies Travel Grant, I would not have been able to gain the trust of the leading outside academic experts of Sonora’s reclusive indigenous groups. As my M.A. program’s capstone project is focused on investigating Sonoran indigenous groups’ struggle for survival, the support from the SGS Travel Grant was instrumental for the success of my research.