Orientalism and humanism in Tanka II from H. J. Koellreutter

Abstract

Based on some formal aspects in the work Tanka II by H. J. Koellreutter and his correspondence with Satoshi Tanaka during the 1970s, in which a utopian position is highlighted in relation to the possibilities of a culturally integrated world, the article establishes considerations about of the limits and scope of this utopia in view of the unfolding of the globalization process, subsequent to the writing of the letters and the composition of the play. To do so, it addresses the concept of orientalism, by Edward Said, potentially critical of Koellreutter's utopian position, but considering, on the other hand, the concept of humanism, also according to Said, which recovers the contemporaneity of some ideas raised by the composer, such as possibility of critique of current forms of cultural interaction conditioned by global capitalism.