Modernity, National Identity, and the Realm of the Arts in East Asia

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

From the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, East Asian countries went through radical changes from Western influences. During this period, the construction of a “modern” mentality through art was considered essential for a competitive nation-state. Modern institutions, such as newspapers and imperial universities, reevaluated all kinds of art forms. This panel will reconsider the legitimacy of the concepts and institutions that came out of this time period in Japan, Korea, and China. Mariko Naito’s study centers on the translation theories of waka, a genre of classical Japanese poetry. Some Japanese scholars assert that waka is essentially linked to the Japanese language and is therefore untranslatable. She will argue that this assumption is rooted in the cultural nationalism that enabled Japanese literary classics to become a foundation for ethnic and cultural identities. Jinhee Kim’s study focuses on the transformation of sijo, a popular poetic form of the Joseon Dynasty, into a “modern” one through the journalistic and academic discourses of the colonial period. She will argue that the process deprived sijo of cultural vitality. Pei Xu’s study examines how science from the West gained legitimacy in China throughout the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period via the use of scientific images. He will present that scientific images led readers to see science as a spectacle and shaped their minds by providing the latest technologies, inventions, and skills through a scientific lens.

Area of Study

• Northeast Asia

Session Organizer

• Jinhee Kim, Ajou University

Chair

• Ying Liu, Sichuan University

Individual Presentations

• Canonization of Medieval Japanese Poetry in Modern Japan - Mariko Naito, Meiji University

• The Birth of Korean “Modern Sijo” - Jinhee Kim, Ajou University

• The Evolution of Scientific Images in Early Modern Chinese Pictorials - Pei Xu, Sichuan University