"Meiji Modern" and the Transcultural Aspects of Modernities
Ruri Kawanami
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Japan's Meiji Era (1868–1912) is often described as a period in which the country was propelled into modernity following the forced opening to foreign trade and the end of feudal shogunate rule. With the new capital seated in Tokyo, modernization policies were often conflated with “Westernization.” Art historical studies of this period have revealed significant transformations in artistic and cultural production, changing audiences, and the negotiation of meanings and identities in and through artworks. Recent scholarship has also examined the institutional conditions behind these shifts, highlighting changes in artistic training—from traditional apprenticeship models practiced by the Kano School, for example, to the emergence of formal art academies in Tokyo and Kyoto (e.g. Tokyo School of Fine Arts, the Japan Art Institute, and the Kyoto Prefectural School of Painting), as well as the establishment of state-run salon exhibition structures (such as the Bunten and Teiten).
This BA seminar is organised around two main objectives: it first reviews key scholarships on Japanese arts and visual culture from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, exploring the concept of “Meiji Modern” in the context of cultural contact with the “West”. On the latter half, the seminar expands the discussion beyond a national framework to situate the Japanese Modernity within a broader network of artistic entanglements in (East) Asia. We will examine cross-cultural contacts with China (e.g., through the Lingnan School in Canton), Korea (from the late Joseon and Colonial Korea), as well as India (e.g., the Bengali School of Art) to explore the transcultural aspects of modernities from an (East) Asian perspective.
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14 Class schedule
Regular appointments