SUP Asia

SUP Asia http://www.sup.org/rss/asian.xml The latest titles from Stanford University Press en-us Copyright 2008 Stanford University Press webmaster@www.sup.org (Webmaster) The Premise of Fidelity: Science, Visuality, and Representing the Real in Nineteenth-Century Japan The Premise of Fidelity: Science, Visuality, and Representing the Real in Nineteenth-Century Japan Maki Fukuoka "This highly original work opens a window into the world of early Japanese botanical drawings, ink-rubbings, woodblock prints, and modern photography to show the dynamic connections between art, science, and medicine in nineteenth-century Japan."—Ann Jannetta, Professor Emerita of Japanese History, University of Pittsburgh "A major contribution to visual and intellectual studies of nineteenth-century Japan."—Luke Gartlan, Lecturer in the History of Photography, University of St. Andrews "The Premise of Fidelity analyzes a field that has barely been considered in Western-language materials before, but the text does not, on this account, restrict itself to an introductory treatment. Rather, it leads the reader at once into serious and important topics relating to truth and the ability of scholars to grasp, and then to represent, this. Its particularizing features lie in the author considering an area in which results are crucial, namely medicine, and a time when the stabilizing pillars of Japanese intellectual life were starting to shake, through contact with Europe."—Timon Screech, Professor of the History of Art, SOAS, University of London <center><a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=20941">To buy this book or view bibliographic details, click here.</a></center> The Premise of Fidelity puts forward a new history of Japanese visuality through an examination of the discourses and practices surrounding the nineteenth century transposition of "the real" in the decades before photography was introduced. This intellectual history is informed by a careful examination of a network of local scholars—from physicians to farmers to bureaucrats—known as Shohyaku-sha. In their archival materials, these scholars used the term shashin (which would, years later, come to signify "photography" in Japanese) in a wide variety of medical, botanical, and pictorial practices. These scholars pursued questions of the relationship between what they observed and what they believed they knew, in the process investigating scientific ideas and practices by obsessively naming and classifying, and then rendering through highly accurate illustration, the objects of their study. This book is an exploration of the process by which the Shohyaku-sha shaped the concept of shashin. As such, it disrupts the dominant narratives of photography, art, and science in Japan, providing a prehistory of Japanese photography that requires the accepted history of the discipline to be rewritten. Maki Fukuoka is assistant professor of Japanese Humanities in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Michigan. http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=20941 http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=20941 Opera and the City: The Politics of Culture in Beijing, 1770-1900 Opera and the City: The Politics of Culture in Beijing, 1770-1900 Andrea S. Goldman "Goldman's study of Peking opera is thorough, convincing, and fascinating. It will be required reading for scholars of Chinese theater, late imperial culture, Qing history, and gender studies. The scholarship is as good as it gets."—Catherine Swatek, University of British Columbia <center><a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=11454">To buy this book or view bibliographic details, click here.</a></center> In late imperial China, opera was an integral part of life and culture, shared across the social hierarchy. Opera transmitted ideas about the self, family, society, and politics over time and space. The Qing capital of Beijing attracted a diverse array of opera genres and audiences and, by extension, served as a hub for the diffusion of cultural values via performance. It is in this context that historian Andrea S. Goldman harnesses opera as a lens through which to examine urban cultural history. Her meticulous yet playful account takes up the multiplicity of opera types that proliferated at the time, exploring them as contested sites through which the Qing court and commercial playhouses negotiated influence and control over the social and moral order. Opera performance refracted ethnic tensions and discontent among literati, blurred lines between public and private life, and offered a stage—literally and figuratively—on which to act out gender and class transgressions. By examining opera in Qing Beijing, this work illuminates how the state and various urban constituencies partook of opera and manipulated it to their own ends. Given Beijing's political influence, Goldman's analysis of opera and its tensions in the capital also sheds light on empire-wide transformations underway at the time. Andrea S. Goldman is an Assistant Professor of History at University of California, Los Angeles. http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=11454 http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=11454 Disquieting Gifts: Humanitarianism in New Delhi Disquieting Gifts: Humanitarianism in New Delhi Erica Bornstein "Bornstein has pioneered the holistic study of aid, and in this delicately crafted book she conveys deep insights into international and intra-Indian charity and volunteering. An important sequel to The Spirit of Development."—Jonathan Benthall, University College London "In a time when humanitarianism seems to have become a prerogative of the Western world, Erica Bornstein's inquiry into philanthropy in India opportunely provides novel insights on charity. Reappraising an object which has become a classic in anthropology since the pioneering study of Marcel Mauss, her rich ethnography reveals the complexity of the contemporary moral economies of the gift."—Didier Fassin, Institute for Advanced Study, author of Humanitarian Reason. A Moral History of the Present <center><a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=18212">To buy this book or view bibliographic details, click here.</a></center> While most people would not consider sponsoring an orphan's education to be in the same category as international humanitarian aid, both acts are linked by the desire to give. Many studies focus on the outcomes of humanitarian work, but the impulses that inspire people to engage in the first place receive less attention. Disquieting Gifts takes a close look at people working on humanitarian projects in New Delhi to explore why they engage in philanthropic work, what humanitarianism looks like to them, and the ethical and political tangles they encounter. Motivated by debates surrounding Marcel Mauss's The Gift, Bornstein investigates specific cases of people engaged in humanitarian work to reveal different perceptions of assistance to strangers versus assistance to kin, how the impulse to give to others in distress is tempered by its regulation, suspicions about recipient suitability, and why the figure of the orphan is so valuable in humanitarian discourse. The book also focuses on vital humanitarian efforts that often go undocumented and ignored and explores the role of empathy in humanitarian work. Erica Bornstein is Associate Professor of Anthropology at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is author of The Spirit of Development: Protestant NGOs, Morality, and Economics in Zimbabwe (Stanford, 2005). http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=18212 http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=18212 Roots of the State: Neighborhood Organization and Social Networks in Beijing and Taipei Roots of the State: Neighborhood Organization and Social Networks in Beijing and Taipei Benjamin L. Read "This impressive new study sheds light on an overlooked trend: the emergence of local neighborhood associations as political actors. Not fully extensions of the state, not fully creations of society, these associations highlight the complexity of local politics, as well as their promise."—Bruce Dickson, George Washington University "Roots of the State offers an intimate glimpse into the life and work of the neighborhood organizations that are the state's first thread of connection to its citizens. The themes and arguments raised here broaden our understanding of authoritarian regimes and reveal how alternative models of governance operate."—Mary Gallagher, University of Michigan <center><a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=18646">To buy this book or view bibliographic details, click here.</a></center> Most social science studies of local organizations tend to focus on "civil society" associations, voluntary associations independent from state control, whereas government-sponsored organizations tend to be theorized in totalitarian terms as "mass organizations" or manifestations of state corporatism. Roots of the State examines neighborhood associations in Beijing and Taipei that occupy a unique space that exists between these concepts. Benjamin L. Read views the work of the neighborhood associations he studies as a form of "administrative grassroots engagement." States sponsor networks of organizations at the most local of levels, and the networks facilitate governance and policing by building personal relationships with members of society. Association leaders serve as the state's designated liaisons within the neighborhood and perform administrative duties covering a wide range of government programs, from welfare to political surveillance. These partly state-controlled entities also provide a range of services to their constituents. Neighborhood associations, as institutions initially created to control societies, may underpin a repressive regime such as China's, but they also can evolve to empower societies, as in Taiwan. This book engages broad and much-discussed questions about governance and political participation in both authoritarian and democratic regimes. Benjamin L. Read is Assistant Professor of Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. With Robert Pekkanen, he is co-editor of Local Organizations and Urban Governance in East and Southeast Asia: Straddling State and Society (2009). http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=18646 http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=18646 Reading Colonial Japan: Text, Context, and Critique Reading Colonial Japan: Text, Context, and Critique Edited by Michele M. Mason and Helen J.S. Lee "Reading Colonial Japan is a splendid collection of colonial writings in translation, paired with critical essays that address historical and theoretical concerns in original and engaging ways. It is an exceptional achievement and a truly important addition to cultural studies, Asian studies, history, and the study of colonialism/postcolonialism, migration, and translation."—Sabine Frühstück, Professor of Modern Japanese Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara <center><a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=12345">To buy this book or view bibliographic details, click here.</a></center> By any measure, Japan's modern empire was formidable. The only major non-western colonial power in the 20th century, Japan controlled a vast area of Asia and numerous archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean. The massive extraction of resources and extensive cultural assimilation policies radically impacted the lives of millions of Asians and Micronesians, and the political, economic, and cultural ramifications of this era are still felt today. The Japanese empire lasted from 1869-1945. During this time, how was the Japanese imperial project understood, imagined, and lived? Reading Colonial Japan is a unique anthology that aims to deepen knowledge of Japanese colonialism(s) by providing an eclectic selection of translated Japanese primary sources and analytical essays that illuminate Japan's many and varied colonial projects. The primary documents highlight how central cultural production and dissemination were to the colonial effort, while accentuating the myriad ways colonialism permeated every facet of life. The variety of genres the explored includes legal documents, children's literature, cookbooks, serialized comics, and literary texts by well-known authors of the time. These cultural works, produced by a broad spectrum of "ordinary" Japanese citizens (a housewife in Manchuria, settlers in Korea, manga artists and fiction writers in mainland Japan, and so on), functioned effectively to reinforce the official policies that controlled and violated the lives of the colonized throughout Japan's empire. By making available and analyzing a wide-range of sources that represent "media" during the Japanese colonial period, Reading Colonial Japan draws attention to the powerful role that language and imagination played in producing the material realities of Japanese colonialism. Michele M. Mason is assistant professor of Japanese literature at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is also the co-producer and interpreter for the short documentary film Witness to Hiroshima (2010). Helen J.S. Lee is an assistant professor of Japanese studies at the Underwood International College, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=12345 http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=12345 After Empire: The Conceptual Transformation of the Chinese State, 1885-1924 After Empire: The Conceptual Transformation of the Chinese State, 1885-1924 Peter Zarrow "This is a deeply researched and intellectually ambitious work. Zarrow speaks with the authoritative and convincing voice of one who knows his subject deeply and has thought long and hard about the issues."—Henrietta Harrison, Harvard University <center><a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=21568">To buy this book or view bibliographic details, click here.</a></center> From 1885–1924, China underwent a period of acute political struggle and cultural change, brought on by a radical change in thought: after over 2,000 years of monarchical rule, the Chinese people stopped believing in the emperor. These forty years saw the collapse of Confucian political orthodoxy and the struggle among competing definitions of modern citizenship and the state. What made it possible to suddenly imagine a world without the emperor? After Empire traces the formation of the modern Chinese idea of the state through the radical reform programs of the late Qing (1885–1911), the Revolution of 1911, and the first years of the Republic through the final expulsion of the last emperor of the Qing from the Forbidden City in 1924. It contributes to longstanding debates on modern Chinese nationalism by highlighting the evolving ideas of major political thinkers and the views reflected in the general political culture. Zarrow uses a wide range of sources to show how "statism" became a hegemonic discourse that continues to shape China today. Essential to this process were the notions of citizenship and sovereignty, which were consciously adopted and modified from Western discourses on legal theory and international state practices on the basis of Chinese needs and understandings. This text provides fresh interpretations and keen insights into China's pivotal transition from dynasty to republic. Peter Zarrow is Research Fellow at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, in Taiwan. His research focuses on modern Chinese cultural history, with a special interest in intellectual change, scholarship, and historiography. http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=21568 http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=21568 East Asian National Identities: Common Roots and Chinese Exceptionalism East Asian National Identities: Common Roots and Chinese Exceptionalism Gilbert Rozman "The book is a very good overview of issues related to national identity in Japan, South Korea, and China. The six-dimensional analysis offers a novel approach to the study of national identity, and the comparative study should be commended."—Gi-Wook Shin, Director, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center <center><a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=22029">To buy this book or view bibliographic details, click here.</a></center> This rigorous comparative study of national identity in Japan, South Korea, and China examines countries with long histories influenced by Confucian thought, surging nationalism, and far-reaching ambitions for regional importance. East Asian National Identities compares national identities in terms of six dimensions encompassing ideology; history; the salience of cultural, political, and economic factors; superiority as a model national community; displacement of the U.S. in Asia; and depth of national identity. Through this analysis, Gilbert Rozman draws the three countries together in an East Asian National Identity Syndrome. Other contributors review historical sources and critical themes of identity in all three countries. Contributors include professors of sociology, international relations, and political science in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and China. Gilbert Rozman is the Musgrave Professor of Sociology at Princeton University. He was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in 2010-11. http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=22029 http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=22029 Occupying Power: Sex Workers and Servicemen in Postwar Japan Occupying Power: Sex Workers and Servicemen in Postwar Japan Sarah Kovner "Sarah Kovner has written a path-breaking work of Japanese history using a broad range of sources from Japanese, American, and British Commonwealth archives. This book will serve as the base line for studies in the history of sex work in postwar Japan for many years to come. Beyond that, it is an important study of women's history, sexuality, and military occupation in the twentieth century, and should be of interest to scholars in these fields worldwide."—William Johnston, Wesleyan University "Rich, theoretically-informed, and based on extensive archival research in several countries, Sarah Kovner's study sheds new light on a hitherto unexplored aspect of the Allied occupation of Japan—its sexual politics."—Vera Mackie, University of Wollongong, and author of Feminism in Modern Japan: Citizenship, Embodiment and Sexuality "This thorough and authoritative study enables the reader to gain a fresh understanding not only of the interactions between Japanese women and postwar occupying forces but also of the nation's view of itself at a time when Japan—despite its persistent reluctance to embrace interracial individuals—was concerned about its 'moral' standing in the international community."—Akira Iriye, Harvard University "Sarah Kovner has tackled a delicate subject with tact, thoughtfulness, and academic rigor. Her important book will be of great interest not just to specialists in Japanese history, but to anyone interested in the consequences of war, occupation, and indeed human relations across cultures."—Ian Buruma, Henry R. Luce Professor of Democracy, Human Rights, and Journalism, Bard College <center><a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=21270">To buy this book or view bibliographic details, click here.</a></center> The year was 1945. Hundreds of thousands of Allied troops poured into war-torn Japan and spread throughout the country, altering both the built environment and the country's psychological landscape. The effect of this influx on the local population did not lessen in the years following the war's end. In fact, the presence of foreign servicemen also heightened the visibility of certain others, particularly panpan—streetwalkers—who were objects of their desire. Occupying Power shows how intimate histories and international relations are interconnected in ways scholars have only begun to explore. Although sex workers became symbols of Japan's diminished status, by earning scarce dollars they helped jump-start economic recovery. But sex workers who catered to servicemen were nonetheless a frequent target. They were blamed for increases in venereal disease. They were charged with diluting the Japanese race by producing mixed-race offspring. In 1956, Japan passed its first national law against prostitution. Though empowered female legislators had joined with conservatives in this effort to reform and rehabilitate, the law produced an unanticipated effect. By ending a centuries-old tradition of sex work regulation, it made sex workers less visible and more vulnerable. This probing history reveals an important but underexplored aspect of the Japanese occupation and its effect on gender and society. It seeks to shift the terms of debate on a number of controversies, including Japan's history of forced sexual slavery, rape accusations against U.S. servicemen, opposition to U.S. overseas bases, and sexual trafficking. Sarah Kovner is Assistant Professor of History and Asian Studies at the University of Florida. http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=21270 http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=21270 Looking for Balance: China, the United States, and Power Balancing in East Asia Looking for Balance: China, the United States, and Power Balancing in East Asia Steve Chan "Looking for Balance compellingly argues for serious change in prevalent American foreign policy thinking about power dynamics in world affairs, and thus for how to deal with China and East Asia. It should cool the zealots for additional U.S. pursuit of military dominance in distant regions."—Davis B. Bobrow, Emeritus Professor of Public and International Affairs and Political Science, University of Pittsburgh <center><a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=21177">To buy this book or view bibliographic details, click here.</a></center> Debate surrounding "China's rise," and the prospects of its possible challenge to America's preeminence in international relations in East Asia, has focused on two questions, rooted in power-balancing theory: whether the United States should "contain" or "engage" China; and whether the rise of Chinese power has inclined other East Asian states to "balance" against Beijing by alignment with the United States. By drawing on alternative theoretic approaches—most especially "balance-of-threat" theory, political economic theory, and theories surrounding regime survival in multilateral rather than bilateral contexts, Steve Chan is able to create an explanation of what is in motion in the region that differs widely from the traditional "strategic vision" of national interest. He concludes that China's primary IR aim is not to match U.S. military might or the foreign policy influence that flows from that power, and that its neighbors are not balancing against its rising power. This is because, in today's guns-versus-butter fiscal reality, balancing policies would entail forfeiting possible gains that can accrue from cooperation, economic growth, and the application of GDP to nonmilitary ends. Instead, most East Asian countries have collectively pivoted to a strategy of elite legitimacy and regime survival based on economic performance. Steve Chan is Professor of Distinction at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is the author of China, the U.S., and the Power-Transition Theory: A Critique. http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=21177 http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=21177 Marigold: The Lost Chance for Peace in Vietnam Marigold: The Lost Chance for Peace in Vietnam James G. Hershberg "This is a superb piece of scholarship, a study that will make a major contribution to our understanding of the Vietnam War in general and the Marigold peace initiative in particular. The research base is simply astounding and what is more, Hershberg shows a marvelous ability to take this mass of material and render it into a gripping and powerful narrative. Marigold: The Lost Chance for Peace in Vietnam is history-writing at its best—evocative, elegant, well-organized, deeply researched, and authoritative."—Fredrik Logevall, Cornell University, author of Choosing War: The Lost Chance for Peace and the Escalation of War in Vietnam "The book will be, I believe, a blockbuster addition to the scholarship of the Vietnam War and, more generally, to Cold War history. Hershberg has produced a remarkably engaging study, a novelesque work of non-fiction that succeeds brilliantly in evoking the feel of 1966 Saigon, Hanoi, Warsaw, Austin, and Washington, It will rank among the finest and most ambitious examples of the 'new Cold War history' and be nothing less than a model for historians and graduate students of how to conduct research in international history and how to weave research drawn from multiple nations into a compelling narrative."—Mark Atwood Lawrence, University of Texas at Austin, author of The Vietnam War: A Concise International History and Assuming the Burden: Europe and the American Commitment to War in Vietnam "This is a well-written, in-depth look at the facts of a controversial and convoluted peace effort that could have significantly altered the course of the Vietnam War." —Publisher's Weekly "Hershberg has done remarkable work, piecing together the Marigold story from newly available Soviet documents, D'Orlandi's journals, and numerous interviews. He has calmed oceans of detail into a graceful narrative, an important work for Vietnam-era and Cold War historians."—Karl Helicher, Library Journal "A thoughtful and well-reasoned study, Marigold: The Lost Chance for Peace in Vietnam is highly recommended especially for American military history shelves."—Midwest Book Review <center><a href="http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=20877">To buy this book or view bibliographic details, click here.</a></center> Marigold presents the first rigorously documented, in-depth story of one of the Vietnam War's last great mysteries: the secret Polish-Italian peace initiative, codenamed "Marigold," that sought to end the war, or at least to open direct talks between Washington and Hanoi, in 1966. The initiative failed, the war dragged on for another seven years, and this episode sank into history as an unresolved controversy. Antiwar critics claimed Johnson had bungled (or, worse, deliberately sabotaged) a breakthrough by bombing Hanoi on the eve of a planned historic secret US-North Vietnamese encounter in Warsaw. Conversely, LBJ and top aides angrily insisted there was no "missed opportunity," Poland never had authority to arrange direct talks, and Hanoi was not ready to negotiate. Conventional wisdom echoes the view that Washington and Hanoi were so dug in that no real opportunity existed. This book uses new evidence from long hidden communist sources to show that Warsaw was authorized by Hanoi to open direct contacts and that Hanoi had committed to entering talks with Washington. It reveals LBJ's personal role in bombing Hanoi at a pivotal moment, disregarding the pleas of both the Poles and his own senior advisors. The historical implications of missing this opportunity are immense: Washington did not enter negotiations with Hanoi until more than two years and many thousands of lives later, and then in far less auspicious circumstances. James Hershberg is Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University. He was the founding director of the Wilson Center's Cold War International History Project and author of James B. Conant: Harvard to Hiroshima and the Making of the Nuclear Age (Stanford University Press, 1995). http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=20877 http://www.sup.org/rss/book_rss.cgi?id=20877