Japan and Russia: Three Centuries of Mutual Images
Japan and Russia: Three Centuries of Mutual Images By Yulia Mikhailova, William M. Steele
2008 | 238 Pages | ISBN: 1905246420 | PDF | 4 MB
2008 | 238 Pages | ISBN: 1905246420 | PDF | 4 MB
The general perception of one country by another - the 'stereotypical collective mentality' - is an historic phenomenon that continues to be a fundamental component in international relations at all levels, but especially in the political and business arenas, and remains an ongoing challenge for future generations. Bringing together international scholars from various disciplines, this innovative study places primacy on modes of seeing and on the enigma of visual experience. It draws on numerous visual representations from propaganda posters and cartoons to artworks and films and to more recent media, such as television, the internet, pop-culture icons, as well as direct visual encounters. The volume raises questions of how different cultures observe, understand and represent each other, how and why mutual representations have changed or remained unchanged during the long history of Japanese-Russian interactions, what mental frameworks exist on both sides of the encounter; and how visions of otherness influence the construction of national, cultural and social identities.