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Searching for a Cultural Diplomacy
Recent studies on the meaning of cultural diplomacy in the twentieth century often focus on the United States and the Cold War, based on the premise that cultural diplomacy was a key instrument of foreign policy in the nation’s effort to contain the Soviet Union. As a result, the term “cultural diplomacy” has become one-dimensional, linked to political manipulation and subordination and relegated to the margin of diplomatic interactions. This volume explores the significance of cultural diplomacy in regions other than the United States or “western” countries, that is, regions that have been neglected by scholars so far—Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. By examining cultural diplomacy in these regions, the contributors show that the function of information and exchange programs differs considerably from area to area depending on historical circumstances and, even more importantly, on the cultural mindsets of the individuals involved.
Japan's Modern Prophet
Uchimura Kanz was one of Japan's foremost thinkers. His ideas influenced contemporary novelists, statesmen, reformers, and religious leaders. The originator and proponent of a particularly "Japanese" form of Christianity known as mukykai, Uchimura struggled with the tensions between his love for the homeland and his love for God. Articulate, prolific, passionate, and profound, he earned a reputation as the most consistent critic of his society and knowledgeable Japanese interpreter of Christianity and its Bible. Through this exceptional man's life, John Howes charts what it meant to live during the introduction of Christianity to Japan.
The Satsuma Students in Britain
In the spring of 1865, when Japan was in the grip of a major civil war, eighteen samurai and an interpreter risked their lives to embark secretly on a voyage to the unknown lands of the barbarian west. Their destination was Britain - at the hub of a vast empire. These were the Satsuma students, some of them still in their teens, all carrying orders from their domains to travel abroad. It was an extraordinary and daring expedition. Their experience of life in the west not only transformed their perception of the outside world, but through their diverse activities in later life, had a profound impact on commerce, education and culture in Meiji Japan. First published in 1974, Inuzuka Takaaki's study is still the classic work on the Satsuma students' revealing tale of discovery. In this translation by Andrew Cobbing, further details that have since emerged are also included to give a fresh portrayal, the first in English, of this singular episode in the opening of Japan.
The Political Thought of Mori Arinori
This new study of the Meiji Government's controversial Education Minister and thinker, Mori Arinori, seeks to complement Ivan P. Hall's excellent earlier biography (1973) by providing an alternative interpretation of the man and his mission, namely that he is 'overwhelmingly closer to the social evolutionist's view of social change', with a considerable debt to the writings of Spencer rather than the Utalitarian philosophy of J. S. Mill. In other words, Mori was able to develop a workable philosophy of government and administration in line with the pragmatic needs of Japanese society. The book, therefore, will contribute to a radical rethink of Japanese perceptions of the Meiji reforms seen in their own terms.
Pacifism in Japan
Pacifism in Japan contains eight essays which deal, among other things, with such outstanding figures as Uchimura Kanzo and Kagawa Toyohiko. It is an important contribution to the understanding of the pacifist tradition in Japan and shows its development since the end of the nineteenth century. It will be of interest not only to the specialist in Japanese studies, but also to those concerned with war and peace in the modern world.
Images of Westerners in Chinese and Japanese Literature
The present volume is the product of a joint effort made by scholars from across China (including Hong Kong), Japan and Europe. The book gathers sixteen papers devoted to literary and cultural criticism from a comparative point of view. A perspective prominent in this volume is imagology, an approach first developed by Daniel-Henry Pageaux, and which focuses on specific images in literary and other texts. The study of the image of the “foreign” in national literary traditions, for instance, belongs to the traditional purview of comparative literature. Pageaux did more than uphold this tradition. He practically reinvented it using new theoretical concepts and perspectives (in particular, ...
Quaint, Exquisite
How Japan captured the Victorian imagination and transformed Western aesthetics From the opening of trade with Britain in the 1850s, Japan occupied a unique and contradictory place in the Victorian imagination, regarded as both a rival empire and a cradle of exquisite beauty. Quaint, Exquisite explores the enduring impact of this dramatic encounter, showing how the rise of Japan led to a major transformation of Western aesthetics at the dawn of globalization. Drawing on philosophy, psychoanalysis, queer theory, textual criticism, and a wealth of in-depth archival research, Grace Lavery provides a radical new genealogy of aesthetic experience in modernity. She argues that the global popularit...
Encountering Modernity
The story of Catholicism and Protestantism in China, Japan, and Korea has been told in great detail. The existing literature is especially rich in documenting church and missionary activities as well as how varied regions and cultures have translated Christian ideas and practices. Less evident, however, are studies that contextualize Christianity within the larger economic, political, social, and cultural developments in each of the three countries and its diasporas. The contributors to Encountering Modernity address such concerns and collectively provide insights into Christianity’s role in the development of East Asia and as it took shape among East Asians in the United States. The work ...
Little Monsters of the Ocean
Bizarre creatures are floating around in our oceans—squishy, slimy, spiky-headed monsters. And they're not even grown up yet! These kids have to go through some drastic changes before they get to be adults. Everyone knows that caterpillars and tadpoles go through metamorphosis, but so do some of the most monstrous creatures under the sea. Take the spiky-headed zoea, somersaulting through the water on her way to becoming a blue crab. Or the gnathiid larva that sucks the fluid right out of a fish's eyeball through his needle-like mouth. That is, until he's full enough to become an adult that doesn't eat anything. Or the moon jellyfish that starts off as a small, orange blob and eventually plants itself on the seafloor and produces not one but many adult jellyfish. Dive deep with these little monsters of the ocean to follow along as they go through drastic changes on their way to growing up.
Intercultural Explorations
Divided into four sections: Asian-Western Intersections, Intercultural Memory, Intercultural Perspectives on Women, Genre Studies, and The Intercultural Arts, these essays from diverse hands and multiple perspectives illuminate the intersections, the cross-sections, and the synergies that characterize significant literary texts and artistic productions. Individually, they exemplify the insights available in an intercultural perspective; together they remind us that no culture - even those that claim to be pure or those that might be regarded as isolated - has escaped the influence of external influences. As a result, this volume is doubly synergistic: one, because it focuses on intercultural phenomena within a specific culture, and two, because they represent multiple perspectives on these phenomena.
