紀要No.14 藤井尚子

ブックの説明

色をめぐる人間と自然と社会の構造
ーベニバナの色名にみる人間的自然としての「美」と「生命力」を中心に一
Structures of societies, nature and humans in relation to colors:
emphasis on “vitality” and “beauty” as humanistic features in relation to
the color names of safflower

藤井尚子
FUJII Naoko

The objective of the present study is to
reconstruct the primitive and comprehensive
relationship between humans and colors in arts,
crafts, chemical production, and industries where
staining plays a major role.
By superimposing the basic components of
culture, i.e., “nature”, “humans” and “society”,
with staining processes, i.e., “dyes”, “colors”
and “materials to be stained”, the relationship
between colors and humans was investigated from
a cultural perspective.
The present study concentrated on kurenai
(deep red) and beni (crimson), which are two red
colors extracted from safflower, and examined the
two different applications of safflower for dyes and
cosmetics and the history of dyes and cosmetics
in order to ascertain their effects on our extrinsic
and intrinsic physical desires. Furthermore,
the present study clarified the existence of two
sociocultural perspectives in Japan, i.e., social
symbolism and the significance of “beauty”, and
practical benefits of drug effects originating from
“vitality”.
By constructing the location and correlation
of kurenai and beni within the “red category”
that encompasses a wide variety of colors from
yellowish red to bluish red, which have been
established through the advances in staining
technology, the relationship between the fine
color recognitions in Japan and social and
cultural maturation is discussed. The present
study examined the importance of “vitality” and
“beauty” as humanistic features in staining from
the perspective of arts and crafts.