Jan 24 lecture

Lecture 3 – 1/24/11 • Trend of photography to emphasize facial features to identify them as members of different races • Portray the essence of a nation in a photo • Emperor Meiji in Court Robes, 1860s o Unmoving, traditionally depicted as in paintings/sculptures o Descendent of a divinity • Picture of the Issuing of the Constitution in the State Chamber of the New Palace, Adachi Ginko, 1881 o Woodblock printing o Modernized German clothing of the period o Does he serve as the figurehead of the nation? o Is this the most effective way to present the nation? Or a landscape painting instead? • Hawk in Pine with Rising Sun, Utagawa Hiroshige, 1852 o Sun goddess, imagery of sun o Flag of Japan features the sun disc, “hinomaru” • Ernest Renan – “What is a nation?” • Great Japanese Naval Victory of Haiyang Island, Nakamura Shuko, 1894 o Traditional Japanese medium o Clash of nations represented as clash of national images • Japanese Navy Victorious off Takushan, Ogata Gekko, 1894 o National imagery a bit more subtle here o Rhetoric of Japanese superiority o Uniforms cause the Japanese soldiers to lose their individuality www.notesolution.com • Picture of Our Naval Forces in the Yellow Sea Firing at and Sinking Chinese Warships, Kobayashi Kiyochika, 1894 o Strong Japanese prejudicial coding (Chinese ponytails) o Less sophisticated Chinese nation • How national images manifest themselves in art and culture is a difficult thing th • Flags become seminal in late 19 century o Limited in shape and color, and yet able to express very different ideals of the states • Flag of Vietnam, 1802 o Literally “dragon spirit” o Symbolizes Vietnam for many reasons o Yellow – rebel sisters that led the people and carried a yellow banner against the Chinese people – symbolize discreteness of Vietnam as a nation, and lack of dependence on China o Yellow also represents king and ethnic Vietnamese o Red – sun and the south o Blue – ocean and dragon scales, dragon thought of as water and body = Vietnam is bordered by water • Flag of Korea, 1883 o “great ultimate flag” – Taegeukgi o Harmony, symmetry, balance, circulation o Circle – image that diagrams sun’s shadow – pattern of shapes sun dial will trace o State of Korea is centered and balanced • Flag if Republic of China, 1895 o Qingtian bairiqi, “sun disc” o Blue sky, white sun, red earth www.notesolution.com o Involved in creation o 5 Nations United Under One Banner o Matchbox picture, only time all 3 flags were u