S1111 Western Images of Japan
Westerners have long been intrigued by Japan. For centuries, the country was considered mysterious and exotic. After visiting Japan, many travelers, scholars, reporters, and missionaries wrote books and articles describing what they had seen and experienced. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of such written records, ranging in quality form dismal to extraordinary. These materials played an important role in helping Westerners to form their images of Japan. In more recent decades, TV programs and especially movies have made direct and vivid contributions to this image formulation process. Of course, there is too much material to cover in one semester, so I will choose things that I consider representative and thought provoking.
I will divide this course into two main parts: the written accounts and the visual accounts. In the first part, we will examine what some of the more perceptive visitors have written and said about Japan. We will start by going back to the period 1543-1640 when the Jesuit priests lived, studied, and proselytized throughout a good part of the country. These priests, most of whom were extremely well educated, wrote numerous reports about the political, social, and religious conditions they saw during the hundred years they were allowed to spend in Japan. Next, we will look at several interesting descriptions written by visitors to Japan in the 19th century. One comes from the first half of the century when Japan was still almost completely closed to the West; and two date from the decades following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when Japan decided to open itself up to foreign ideas and people. Next we will read a few selections from a travel diary and commentary written in the early 1930s by a well-known British man of letters. When we come to the war period, we find, as one would expect, a great variety of jingoistic materials. Among those we will not linger long; however, one product of the war between the United States and Japan was a book that became an almost instant classic concerning Western interpretation of Japan, Japanese, and the Japanese character. Thus it is worthwhile, I believe, to delve into and discuss the main points of that work. The final written selection provides a humorous treatment of Japan. The author is an American who found much to laugh about during his short stay there.
Of course, since the end of World War II, countless books and articles have been written about the new Japan as well as the old Japan. However, at this point in the course I plan to change directions and focus on Japan as described and interpreted in several movies which attracted a great deal of attention among the general public as well as among movie critics. I would submit that the great majority of people these days get their images of foreign countries mainly from TV and movies. So we will analyze what I consider the most significant (and interesting) movies of the last few decades that look at Japan and Japanese society through Western eyes.\r\n
I will divide this course into two main parts: the written accounts and the visual accounts. In the first part, we will examine what some of the more perceptive visitors have written and said about Japan. We will start by going back to the period 1543-1640 when the Jesuit priests lived, studied, and proselytized throughout a good part of the country. These priests, most of whom were extremely well educated, wrote numerous reports about the political, social, and religious conditions they saw during the hundred years they were allowed to spend in Japan. Next, we will look at several interesting descriptions written by visitors to Japan in the 19th century. One comes from the first half of the century when Japan was still almost completely closed to the West; and two date from the decades following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when Japan decided to open itself up to foreign ideas and people. Next we will read a few selections from a travel diary and commentary written in the early 1930s by a well-known British man of letters. When we come to the war period, we find, as one would expect, a great variety of jingoistic materials. Among those we will not linger long; however, one product of the war between the United States and Japan was a book that became an almost instant classic concerning Western interpretation of Japan, Japanese, and the Japanese character. Thus it is worthwhile, I believe, to delve into and discuss the main points of that work. The final written selection provides a humorous treatment of Japan. The author is an American who found much to laugh about during his short stay there.
Of course, since the end of World War II, countless books and articles have been written about the new Japan as well as the old Japan. However, at this point in the course I plan to change directions and focus on Japan as described and interpreted in several movies which attracted a great deal of attention among the general public as well as among movie critics. I would submit that the great majority of people these days get their images of foreign countries mainly from TV and movies. So we will analyze what I consider the most significant (and interesting) movies of the last few decades that look at Japan and Japanese society through Western eyes.\r\n
Goals of the Course:
(1) To provide students with a general knowledge of how Westerners, mainly American and British, have viewed Japan over the centuries.
(2) To help students understand the impact of written materials and visual materials on the image-formulation process.
Syllabus
Evaluation
Readings
Evaluation
Readings