Hasil Pencarian  ::  Simpan CSV :: Kembali

""Since the late nineteenth-century emergence of japonisme in the Western art world, the work of ukiyo-e artists such as Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Utamaro has come to be widely appreciated in the West. Recognition of other genres of Edo-period painting has, however, lagged behind. In this volume, noted scholar Imahashi Riko brings new light to a pioneering group of young artists who flourished for less than a decade in the 1770's before disappearing into obscurity. While the artists of the the Akita Ranga school belonged to the Akita domain in the north of Japan, it was in Edo (present-day Tokyo), the political and cultural center of the country, that-during Japan's long period of national seclusion-they encountered books imported from the West and sought to develop a new style combining Western perspective methods and chiaroscuro with traditional motifs and compositions of Asian-bird-and-flower and landscape painting. The masterpiece of the Akita Ranga school, and the focus of this book, is Shinobazu Pond by Odano Natake. In this one work of art, which seems on the surface to be a tranquil landscape painting, are hidden allusions to portraits of beauties in Chinese art and literature, to legends about Shinobazu Pond in Japan and West Lake in China, and to contemporary Edo popular culture. Drawing on a quarter of a century of close study of Edo-period art and culture, Imahashi provides, in this major work of scholarhip, valuable context to the oeuvre of a group struggling to reconcile the art and thought of East and West a century before the 'opening' of Japan in the Meiji period, as well as insight into the thinking of Naotake, whose tragically short career was ended by his death in 1780, at the age of thirty." from back cover."

"The current obesity epidemic has been at the top of the national and, increasingly, global public agenda for the last decade-the subject of extensive and intensive concern, scrutiny, and corrective efforts from various quarters. In the United States, much of this attention is predicated on the official account of obesity-that it is a matter of personal responsibility, specifically to the end of monitoring and ensuring appropriate caloric balance. However, even though it continues to have cultural presumption, that account does not resonate with the populace, which may explain why efforts of redress have been notoriously ineffective. In this book, the author places obesity in cultural, political, and economic context. She argues that the failure of the official story of obesity mirrors broader cultural tensions and anxieties that similarly have failed to account for lived experience. Alternative narratives of obesity have thus surfaced in an attempt to address that breach by invoking the concept of authenticity in various ways. The author chronicles the most prominent of those competing stories, examining and evaluating each in relation to the cultural backdrop against which they are drawn."

"Originally published in Japanese, If There Were No Japan: A Cultural Memoir was acclaimed for its insights into Japanese life, bringing together aspects of history, culture and everyday life to paint an original and revealing portrait of the Japanese people and the pressing issues facing them today...During his decades of passionate engagement with Japan, Pulvers became close friends with many of the most gifted writers, filmmakers, actors and journalists in the country. Whether delving into ancient traditions or providing vivid accounts of contemporary customs, analyzing characters in Japanese fiction or recounting personal encounters with individuals, the author illuminates those inventive elements that have made Japanese culture and design the envy of the world--and that signal a way forward into the twenty-first century"