The myth of "Zen Arts" in forming the artistic culture of Japan

In the XXth century, Japan put a great effort to interpret and present to the world its philosophy, religion, culture and art. Suzuki Daisetsu Teitarō and thinkers associated with the so-called Kyoto school were building bridges with the Western world, presenting it the philosophy of Zen and explaining Japanese art and culture, often referring to Zen itself, in which they saw the essence of Japanese culture. The aim of this dissertation is to show the place and role of Zen in shaping the artistic culture of Japan by presenting the history and significance of the myth of Japanese zenistic culture. Myth is understood here as a narration which, by separating certain elements of the message, gives them a symbolic and timeless form, whereas the word "myth" is used in the sense of something that escapes from the categories of "truth" or "falsehood". The compatibility of Zen with Japanese culture and with the understanding of "ways" in Japan, art, spiritual and artistic progress, makes its various forms of artistic culture perfectly fit in with the interpretative paradigm associated with Zen Buddhism. The analysis of this phenomenon with use of the methodology appropriate for cultural studies is another goal of the thesis. The research tool used is content analysis, comprising both source texts and comparative analysis of existing elaborations and meanings attributed to the forms which are used by selected art forms.