An image that can be reproduced serves a very different function from a single unique work of art; it reaches broader audiences and elicits a wider range of responses. This seminar will explore three different types of replication in Japan—woodblock printing, lithography, and photography. Each week, one session will be devoted to reviewing the chronological development of the replicated image in Japan. During the second session of each week, the class will discuss the imagery while focusing on topics related to its dissemination, such as visual literacy, technology, celebrity, censorship, propaganda, and commercialism.

In the course of the semester, we will discuss the history of the Japanese print in the Edo period (1615 -1868) through the works of artists such as Suzuki Harunobu, Kitagawa Utamaro, Katsushika Hokusai, and Utagawa Hiroshige. The class will also examine how the chromolithographed postcard replaced the woodblock print as the favored format for the transmission of images during the early twentieth century, becoming the primary visual means for communicating Japan's modernity. We will then investigate how photography in Japan developed from studio productions for tourist souvenirs in the second half of the nineteenth century to powerful vehicles for the exploration of a new visuality and social commentary from the mid-1920s to the present day.

Textbooks/Other Materials: All readings posted on Canvas

HISTART Distribution Requirements: Early Modern & Modern and East Asia

Course Requirements:

Weekly individual and group responses to course readings and prepared questions and a final presentation and seminar paper that will take the form of a grant proposal for an exhibition.

Intended Audience:

Undergraduates interested in Japanese art and culture or in the history of prints and photography.

Class Format:

Two 80-minute seminar meetings per week.