Gaman (term)

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

This article is about the term. For the film, see Gaman. For the Japanese television show, see Za Gaman.

Gaman (我慢?) is a Japanese term of Zen Buddhist origin which means "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity".[1] The term is generally translated as "perseverance", "patience", tolerance, or "self-denial".[2] A related term, gamanzuyoi (我慢強い gaman-tsuyoi?), a compound with tsuyoi (strong), means "suffering the unbearable" or having a high capacity for a kind of stoic endurance.[3]

Gaman is variously described as a "law,"[4] a "virtue,"[5] an "ethos,"[6] a "trait,"[7] etc. It means to do one's best in distressed times and to maintain self-control and discipline.[8][9][10][11][12]

Gaman is a teaching of Zen Buddhism.[13]

Analysis

Gaman has been attributed to the Japanese-Americans and others held in United States' internment camps during World War II[14] and to those affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan.[15] In the internment camps, Gaman was misperceived by non-Japanese as introverted behavior or as a lack of assertiveness or initiative rather than as a demonstration of strength in the face of difficulty or suffering.[16]

After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the resilience, civility, lack of looting and ability of the Japanese to help each other was widely attributed to the gaman spirit.[11] The 50–70 workers that remained at the damaged and radiation-emitting Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant despite the severe danger demonstrated what was regarded as gaman as well.[17]

Gaman is also used in psychoanalytic studies[18] and to describe the attitudes of the Japanese. It is often taught to youth and largely used by older Japanese generations. Showing gaman is seen as a sign of maturity and strength. Keeping your private affairs, problems and complaints silent demonstrates strength and politeness as others have seemingly larger problems as well. If a person with gaman were to receive help from someone else, they would be compliant; not asking for any additional help and voicing no concerns.[19]

See also

Notes

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

References

  • Burns, Catherine (2004). Sexual Violence and the Law in Japan. New York: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-415-33651-1.
  • Hirasuna, Delphine and Kit Hinrichs. (2005). The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 9781580086899; OCLC 494064406
  • Johnson, Frank A. (1995). Dependency and Japanese Socialization. New York: NYU Press. pp. 181. ISBN 978-0-8147-4222-8.
  • Kolb, Patricia J. (2007). Social Work Practice with Ethnically and Racially Diverse Nursing Home Residents and their Families. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-12533-8.
  • Niiya, Brian. (1993). Japanese American History: An A-to-Z Reference from 1868 to the Present. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 9780816026807; OCLC 26853950
  • West, Mark I. (2009). The Japanification of Children's Popular Culture: from Godzilla to Miyazaki. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810851214; OCLC 232786129

Further reading

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Gaman_(term)&oldid=715579898"