Bloomsbury Divine Work, Japanese Colonial Cinema and its Legacy (Topics and Issues in National Cinema)

Review If there is a study more erudite, more penetrating and just plain more important for any consideration of Japans forays into crafting an East Asian cinema during its Imperial era and its far-reaching repercussions than Kate Taylor-Jones Divine Work, Japanese Colonial Cinema and its Legacy Id sure like to see it. For here we have excavations of forgotten, but fascinating films made alongside Japans war efforts as well as films made in the modern era that both reflect and reflect upon those trying and dark times. Working in multiple languages with a bibliography that alone is worth the price of admission, Taylor-Jones opens up a vista on films and filmmakers who shaped and were shaped by the momentous events of the Pacific Wara war which changed Japan, China and Korea and whose reverberations are still being felt in the cinema as elsewhere. --Chris Berry, Professor of Film Studies, Kings College London, UKWith engaging style and sharp observation, Kate Taylor-Jones shows how Orientalist structures of production and representation informed the cinemas of colonial East Asia under Japanese rule, and how these power dynamics continue to operate into the present day. Wide-ranging in scope, considering film in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia as well as Korea, Taiwan and Manchuria, 'Divine Work' demonstrates how collaboration with the Japanese colonizers propelled the film industries of East Asia forwards, simultaneously creating a sense of ambivalence and profound unease regarding cinema's role in Japanese empire-building. --David Desser, Emeritus Professor of Cinema Studies, University of Illinois, USAReadings in the Anthropocene provides a timely collection of transdisciplinary essays on literary, historical and philosophical texts, films, artworks and caricatures in German studies within the broader fields of ecocriticism and environmental humanities from the eighteenth century until today. Scrutinizing the concept of the Anthropocene, the volume analyses the manifold interactions between the human and non-human world and encourages new thinking toward a sustainable future. --Rachael Hutchinson, Associate Professor of Japanese Studies, University of Delaware, USA and author of Nagai Kafu's Occidentalism: Defining the Japanese Self Product Description For many East Asian nations, cinema and Japanese Imperialism arrived within a few years of each other. Exploring topics such as landscape, gender, modernity and military recruitment, this study details how the respective national cinemas of Japan's territories struggled under, but also engaged with, the Japanese Imperial structures. Japan was ostensibly committed to an ethos of pan-Asianism and this study explores how this sense of the transnational was conveyed cinematically across the occupied lands. Taylor-Jones traces how cinema in the region post-1945 needs to be understood not only in terms of past colonial relationships, but also in relation to how the post-colonial has engaged with shifting political alliances, the opportunities for technological advancement and knowledge, the promise of larger consumer markets, and specific historical conditions of each decade. About the Author Kate Taylor-Jones is Senior Lecturer in East Asian Studies at The University of Sheffield, UK. She has published on topics including colonial Japanese and Korean cinema, cinema and landscape in East Asia, and domestic violence and the sex trade. She is author of Rising Sun, Divided Land: Japanese and South Korean Filmmakers (2013); and editor-in-chief of the East Asian Journal of Popular Culture. She is co-editor with Fiona Handyside of International Cinema and the Girl: Local Issues, Transnational Contexts (2015).