This section is divided into four distinct series of articles. Through the examination of Japan's experience of modernity through representative work in literature and cinema, I wish to illuminate the ambivalence toward modernity existing in non-Western Geist.
Akutagawa focuses on the life and the work of a Japanese author, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. He was a contemporary of the likes of Franz Kafka, yet there is a distinct gap between their respective experience of modernity. Akutagawa is still considered the first champion of modern Japanese literature and a representative figure of pre-WWII Japanese intelligentsia. And thus, the study of his achievement and limit illuminates the idiosyncrasy of Japan's modernity.
Ghibli probes the subject described above through the life and work of Studio Ghibli founders, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Their attitude toward modernity is contrasted with that of Studio Ghibli's younger directors' work.
Animated features the articles on the work by notable animated film directors such as Mamoru Oshii and Satoshi Kon. Whilst Studio Ghibli's cultural impact upon Japanese Geist is undeniable, each of auteurs featured here makes a strong case of his own.
Features examines the same subject through the feature films from Japan. Whilst animated films dominate Japanese culture today, they cannot be neglected.
Akutagawa focuses on the life and the work of a Japanese author, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. He was a contemporary of the likes of Franz Kafka, yet there is a distinct gap between their respective experience of modernity. Akutagawa is still considered the first champion of modern Japanese literature and a representative figure of pre-WWII Japanese intelligentsia. And thus, the study of his achievement and limit illuminates the idiosyncrasy of Japan's modernity.
Ghibli probes the subject described above through the life and work of Studio Ghibli founders, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Their attitude toward modernity is contrasted with that of Studio Ghibli's younger directors' work.
Animated features the articles on the work by notable animated film directors such as Mamoru Oshii and Satoshi Kon. Whilst Studio Ghibli's cultural impact upon Japanese Geist is undeniable, each of auteurs featured here makes a strong case of his own.
Features examines the same subject through the feature films from Japan. Whilst animated films dominate Japanese culture today, they cannot be neglected.