Cultural Capital as 'Aura' Constituting Class: Bourdieu's Strategy of 'Concealment' and the Convertibility of 'Otaku Capital' (Part 4)
6. Conclusion: When Modern 'Otaku' and 'Superfans' Become 'Tea Masters'
While the requirement for Bourdieu's cultural capital to exert its power is 'concealment,' otaku capital and contribution capital build prestige within a community through 'exposure.' However, when 'exposure-type capital' is 'embodied' in the form of analytical skills, aesthetic discernment, and communication abilities, and ultimately sublimated into an 'aura' that functions in the upper echelons of society, the possibility arises for it to be vertically converted into classical cultural capital.
The history of the tea ceremony shows that 'exposure-type capital' (knowledge volume, consumption amount) cultivated in specific subcultures or communities is vertically converted into 'concealment-type cultural capital' that is valid in broader society through the following two processes.
Abstraction and sublimation through 'embodiment': Specific knowledge and skills are abstracted into universal abilities such as analytical power, aesthetic discernment, and empathy, and are incorporated into the habitus as an unconscious 'aura'.
Legitimization through 'institutionalization': The culture or skill is recognized by the dominant institutions of society, such as academia, art, and business, and is positioned as a legitimate value.
In the modern era, when deep research skills into otaku content are sublimated into academic analytical power, and the 'appreciation for complex narratives' gained through personal experience at one's own expense (for example, evaluations based on stories of experiencing very expensive items in the world of malt whiskey or cigars) are sublimated into refined aesthetic discernment, it reproduces the history followed by the 'tea ceremony' and is converted into cultural capital as a new class-based 'aura.' It can be said that Bourdieu's theory continues to provide a key to sharply grasping the fluidity of capital and new forms of class reproduction even in modern consumer culture.
And, like the 'otoban-san' (dedicated fans) among performing arts fans, we should understand that this mechanism, regardless of the scale of its spread, continues to function as a mechanism for social posturing that is stirring within society even today.