OMURA, Yusuke
Research Associate
Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa,
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
3-11-1 Asahi-cho, Fuchu-shi,
Tokyo, 183-8534, Japan
Email: omura.yusuke[at]aa.tufs.ac.jp
Personal Homepage: https://sites.google.com/view/yusuke-omura-anthro
Research interests: Ethnographic description of a particular person, ethics, self, queer, sexuality, dancing, contemporary art, Laos
Anthropologically exploring the aesthetic and ethical aspects of human life which appear in various ordinary life scenes
From 2019 until today, I have done anthropological field researches in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. My research topics have been about the networks of persons with male homosexual desire and young artists of various contemporary art genres in the city.
In the last several years, I am exploring the possibilities of doing anthropological research which focuses on a particular person. This study takes time to investigate the person's life histories, follow the person's ongoing life trajectory, and carefully observe the person's behavior in various moments. Based on the continuous interaction with one gay man who lives in Vientiane Capital, I am trying to figure out "what is at stake" or "what matters" in his everyday life through the analysis of several life scenes; of engaging relationships with his relatives, of building areas of dwelling in the city space, of Buddhist religious practices, and so on. In doing so, this study, with a reference to the anthropology of ethics and anthropological studies of selves, aims to conceptualize the everyday life of the particular person as "expressions" and to highlight the aesthetic and ethical nature of his (and also, our) "being alive."
Recent Interests：
As an extension of this idea of human life as "expression," I am also attempting to develop a research project with the idea of thinking of life as "dancing". Here, the concept of "dancing" encompasses the wide range of practices in which persons as embodied existence engage with others and their environment, direct their own behavior, and express themselves in various ways. Moreover, this project sees dancing (movements performed as an art or an entertainment) as a bodily description of "dance" as a human life itself. Through this idea, I am also envisioning the possibilities of the collaboration between dancing (as performing arts) and anthropology.
Research Projects:
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