| Popis: |
In this thesis I explore the ways in which Japanese women are viewed in twenty first century western culture in conjunction with ukiyo-e prints. Critical to this discussion is an investigation of how nineteenth century European and American travelers viewed Japan and its inhabitants. Images of women in ukiyo-e, woodblock prints and paintings which were exported and sold in western bazaars, shaped the western misconception of Japanese women that has persisted into the present. Japanese goods representing graceful and statuesque women and beautiful men, combined with female impersonators in Kabuki theater, formed a fairy-tale image of Japan as an exotic culture that could easily be dominated by the West. By looking at a variety of artwork from nineteenth-century publications to contemporary films, I reveal the early misconceptions that transformed the Japanese into the "Other," and how the racial stereotype survives into the twenty-first century. |
