ART 271 - Japan and the (Inter)National Modern

Cross-Listed as ASIA 271

This course introduces students to the art and visual culture of Japan from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century, a period of Japanese history marked by dramatic cultural, political, and social change. The class focuses primarily on the visual arts from the 1850s to 1945, a time when modernism and modernity were seen (by some) as empowering and (by others) as a threat to foundations of national identity; we will also consider artistic practices in the postwar era to understand the “crisis of the modern” that developed in the first decades after the war as artists struggled to find their individual and national voices. Drawing on a diverse array of artistic forms and visual media, including painting, prints, sculpture, architecture, anime (Japanese cartoons), film, photography, advertising design, and manga (Japanese comics), we explore themes such as trauma, nationalism, imperialism, fascism, protest, hybridity, fantasy, embodiment, and performativity. Students will be asked to consider critically how these works operated as a part of international flows in art, design, and consumerism as well as how they contributed to evolving modern identities in Japan. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)