Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Goff, Brendan
Keywords
American Japanism Movement, Gilded Age, Progressive Era, Aggression, Japanese Culture
Area of Concentration
History
Abstract
In this thesis, I examine both the formation and the narratives of the American Japanism Movement during the Gilded Age and the early Progressive Era. I show how the Japanism Movement emerged during a period of American imperial aggression toward Japan, as well as a period of profound cultural crisis amongst the empire’s middle- and upper-classes. This thesis proposes that in response to their cultural crisis, some members of the American bourgeoisie began to appropriate Japanese culture as an ancient, sacred, and “authentic” alternative to their own culture, which they perceived as in decline as a result of secularization and industrialization. Purchasing Japanese cultural objects and studying the “peculiar” nature of Japanese life, the Japanism Movement’s participants nostalgically embraced a version of Japan generated through the Western imperial gaze to fit their own needs. Ultimately, the Japanism Movement engaged in a narrative of cultural decline—whether the notion of decline was applied to Japanese or American culture.
Recommended Citation
Rockower, Nicole, "“THE SHORES OF YOUR HAPPY LAND”: NARRATIVES OF CULTURAL DECLINE IN THE JAPANISM MOVEMENT OF THE GILDED AGE" (2016). Theses & ETDs. 5266.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5266