Documentary on Meiji period/Japan's modernization?

Melek Ortabasi mso1 at sfu.ca
Wed Sep 28 14:10:37 EDT 2011


Thank you John! I will check it out.

Best,
Melek

----- Original Message -----
From: "John D. Moore" <johndmoore5 at gmail.com>
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 3:28:45 PM
Subject: Re: Documentary on Meiji period/Japan's modernization?


The 1992 PBS documentary series The Pacific Century has an hour-long episode entitled "The Meiji Revolution" that focuses on the transition from late Tokugawa to Meiji, and I believe into the beginnings of the Taisho era. I've seen it used in two separate classes before. It's quite accessible, has a wide variety of academic interviewees, and is a neatly detailed account for being so broad. I haven't personally seen any of the other installments all the way through, but the series has installments that bring it current (to 1992): 




    1. The Two Coasts of China: Asia and the Challenge of the West 
    2. The Meiji Revolution 
    3. From the Barrel of a Gun 
    4. Writers and Revolutionaries 
    5. Reinventing Japan 
    6. Inside Japan, Inc. 
    7. Big Business and the Ghost of Confucius 
    8. The Fight for Democracy 
    9. Sentimental Imperialists: America in Asia 
    10. The Pacific Century: The Future of the Pacific Basin 


Someone else may know of something more recent, or more chronologically comprehensive, but I've found this a good resource. Good luck! 


John D. Moore 


On Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 12:08 PM, Melek Ortabasi < mso1 at sfu.ca > wrote: 


Hi all, 

A practical question for you. I'm looking for a 1 to 1 1/2-hr. documentary on the 1850s to, say, the early part of the 20th century. Bonus points if there's a series that goes up to the present day! It's for a class entitled East/West, where I use the case of Japan to explore Orientalism and other forms of cross-cultural encounter (and conflict). My students are not Asian studies students, and may not know a whole lot about Japan, so I'd like to get through some of the preliminaries in an efficient (but not reductive) fashion. Any suggestions? 

Best, 
Melek 

-- 
Melek Ortabasi, Ph.D. 
Assistant Professor 
World Literature Program 
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences 
Simon Fraser University 
Unit 250-13450 
102 Ave., Surrey, BC 
V3T0A3 CANADA 
Phone: 778-782-8660 

"I do not accept that anyone is permanently fixed by his or her 'identity'; but neither can one shed specific structures of race and culture, class and caste, gender and sexuality, environment and history. I understand these, and other cross-cutting determinations, not as homelands, chosen or forced, but as sites of worldly travel: difficult encounters and occasions for dialogue.” James Clifford, _Routes_ 

-- 
Melek Ortabasi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
World Literature Program
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Simon Fraser University
Unit 250-13450
102 Ave., Surrey, BC
V3T0A3 CANADA
Phone: 778-782-8660

"I do not accept that anyone is permanently fixed by his or her 'identity'; but neither can one shed specific structures of race and culture, class and caste, gender and sexuality, environment and history. I understand these, and other cross-cutting determinations, not as homelands, chosen or forced, but as sites of worldly travel: difficult encounters and occasions for dialogue.” James Clifford, _Routes_



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