Ideological State Apparatus, at first glance, may seem too big of a term for any reader. But ISAs are actually everywhere, most are only present in a sly, subtle way. What is interesting is, even the most ordinary of things as the Japanese obento, is in fact one of the fundamental Ideological State Apparatuses that hone the totality of its mother nation.
Not Just a Lunchbox
Louis Althusser, a patron of Marxism, listed several institutions as Ideological State Apparatuses: religious, educational, family, legal, political, trade-union, communications, and cultural ISAs.
By Anne Allison’s words in her work Japanese Mothers and Obentos, quite surprisingly, a trivial thing as the obento may be related to the bigger pictures as (1) the educational ISA and (2) the cultural ISA.
It was explicitly stated in the essay that the obento is “a routine, task, and art form of nursery school culture”. The obento functions as a means of manipulation for the state not only in a totally coercive way, but also in a pleasing, innocent manner for both mother and child. The latter mentioned, are the individuals who are mainly the subject of this “manipulation”.
By definition, this is how ISAs work, “massively and predominantly by ideology, but secondarily by repression, even if ultimately, but only ultimately, this is much concealed, even symbolic. There is no such thing as purely ideological apparatus.” This is precisely why, as ideological as education may seem, Schools are still governed by rules and regulations, methods of discipline, punishment and control.
Both mother and child are being judged by the school authorities through the obento. Basically, it is a two way street toward the same goal. The “performance” of the child – that is, how efficiently s/he eats up – spells how the producer functions both as a woman and mother. To juxtapose, how well the consumer as child and student develops is dependent on how the mother facilitates the completion of the chore. Simply by the time and effort that the mother expends, the obento becomes, in a sense, “a sign of a woman’s commitment as a mother and her inspiring her child to being similarly committed as a student. A model for school is added to what is gift and reminder from home.”(p.302)
Similarly, in a way, that fact eases the tension of going to school for the first time. This illustrates exactly how ISAs, by ideological power, takes effect. To top it off: “ideology is so potent because it becomes not only ours but us – the terms and machinery by which we structure ourselves and identify who we are”. (p.298)
The Obento as a Cultural ISA
Allison appropriately mentioned that “no food is just food in Japan.” (p.298) This characteristic is actually evident in their manner of presentation or more suitably, in the “visual appeal” of their cuisine. More than being a means of nourishment, Japanese food actually carries within itself a certain symbolism. This is probably true not only in Japan – food can in fact signify national identity.
“Eating Japanese food” is “reconfirming one as a member of the culture.”(p.300) Allison actually mentioned two codings that directly mark out the cultural appropriation of the obento: (1) it defines right way to do things, a right place for everything and a certain coordination, and (2) there are standards of perfection and exactness that Japanese cuisine dictates and demands for the producer.
In a sense, this illustrates social order which, to a great extent, is particularly what the obento as an ISA means to instill. “Social order is generated in the nursery school by a system of routines”(p.301), of which eating together and finishing what is in ones obento is included – not to mention highlighted. It was even openly said that in nursery school, more than anything else, children learn “how to become a Japanese student, and both parts of this formula – Japanese and student – are equally stressed.”(p.301)
Spotting ISAs
Comparable to how the obento functions as an Ideological State Apparatus, Roland Barthes in his work, Toys, states that toys - dolls in particular – epitomizes more than what it presents to the immediate observer. Barthes actually defined dolls with a different meaning: he said that dolls were made as a material means of developing a girl’s frame of mind to conform to her role in society. To make it more concrete, dolls, in this sense, infuse domestication of women. Just as the obento represents “what the mother is and what the child should become”(p.302), dolls actually hone females, even at a young age, to be “fit for domestic use or life.” In this sense, the innocent doll has lost its manifestation of a little girl’s honest soul but has become a means of repression, a mandate of what society wants her to become.
Clearly, anywhere in the world, there are a lot of ISAs we encounter everyday but not everyone is fortunate enough to know what they actually are and what power they have over individuals and society. Though not all ISAs are actually that bad, there are probably a good number of exceptions, what is essential to note is that a critical mind and a steady conviction are the best defenses to society’s ideologies and repression in all their subtle and blatant forms.
Sources
Althusser, L. From ‘Ideology and the State’, Lenin and Philosophy and other essays, trans B. Brewster (p136-8; 152-3; 154-5; 155-6; 160-2; 162-4; 168-9). Modern Literary Theory, 54-62
Allison, Anne. Japanese Mothers and Obentos: The lunchbox as ideological state apparatus. Anthropological Quarterly. Vol.64, No.4 (Oct. 1991): 195-208.
Barthes, Roland. Toys. Mythologies. Trans. Annette Lavers. Great Britain: Jonathan Cape, Ltd, 1972.
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