Constructing Japan : Knowledge Production and Identity Building in Late Nineteenth-Century Western Architectural Discourses (1853–1900) / Beate Löffler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Löffler, Beate, author.

Series:

Late Antiquity and Medieval Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2025.

Brill Studies in Architectural and Urban History ; 3

Late Antiquity and Medieval Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2025

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture, Modern--19th century.

Architecture, Modern.

Architecture, Modern--Western countries--Japanese influences.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (496 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Knowledge Production and Identity Building in Late Nineteenth-Century Western Architectural Discourses (1853–1900)

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2025.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The influence of Japanese art and culture on art in late 19th-century Europe and America through collections of objects and knowledge transfer is already recognised. However, the research in this field often neglects architecture. This study takes a new approach, placing architecture at the centre. Through in-depth analysis of contemporary textual and visual sources, Beate Löffler shows how western actors from different backgrounds interpreted Japanese architecture as they experienced it, either face-to-face or via texts and images. It unveils a complex process of appropriation and rejection, of claim to interpretive sovereignty, and fascination with the foreign, that led to both new knowledge and cultural clichés.

Contents:

Front Cover

Half Title

Series Information

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Acknowledgements

Figures

Abbreviations

Timeline

Chapter 1 Introduction

1 Context, Source Materials and Methodological Approach

2 Research Background and Disciplinary Context

Chapter 2 My Perception, Your Perception Available Knowledge, Research Questions, Approaches, and Expert Networks in the Late Nineteenth Century

1 Knowledge of Japanese Architecture Available in the West

1.1 From Marco Polo to Matthew C. Perry

1.1.1 Encyclopaedias

1.1.2 Architectural Reference Books

1.2 From Matthew C. Perry to the Exposition Universelle of 1900

1.2.1 Visual Sources

1.2.2 Architectural Reference Books

2 Diplomats, Experts and Knowledge Mediators' Networks

2.1 Media

2.1.1 Cultural Journals and General-Interest Magazines

2.1.2 Art Periodicals

2.1.3 Architectural Journals

2.2 Contributors and Networks

2.2.1 Édouard (Edward) Lévi, named Montefiore

2.2.2 Yamamoto Kakuma

2.2.3 Richard Henry Brunton

2.2.4 Ernest Mason Satow

2.2.5 Edward William Godwin

2.2.6 Rutherford Alcock

2.2.7 James Jackson Jarves

2.2.8 Jules Lescasse

2.2.9 Josiah Conder

2.2.10 Thomas Russell Hillier McClatchie

2.2.11 George Cawley

2.2.12 Philippe Burty

2.2.13 Charles James William Pfoundes

2.2.14 Preliminary Observations: Actors and Backgrounds

2.2.15 The Asiatic Society of Japan

Chapter 3 The Invisible Dwelling House Topics and Non-topics in Architectural Discourses on Japan (1853-1900)

1 Architecture as an Art Form

1.1 Fine Arts and Architecture

1.2 Applied Art and Craftsmanship

1.2.1 Decorative Details (Carvings, Colours, Metal Fittings)

1.2.2 The Japanese Artisan in General

1.2.3 The Japanese Artisan in a Specific Field: the Carpenter.

2 Architecture as a Field of Engineering

2.1 Building Structure and Earthquake Resistance

2.1.1 Statements

2.1.2 Dispute

2.1.3 Dead End

2.2 The Science and Economy of Construction

2.2.1 (Dis)Avowing the Ars Mechanicae: Carpenter or Engineer

2.2.2 Tools, Practices and Material Management

3 Architecture as 'Social' Planning

3.1 Urban Representation and Development

3.2 The City as a Mirror of Social Order

3.2.1 Sewage Systems and Hygiene as a Technical and Social Issue

3.2.2 Wooden Construction as a Socioeconomic Option

4 Architecture as an Expression of Culture: Observing the Other, Defining the Self

4.1 Landscape, Recreational Travel and Sight-Seeing

4.2 Cityscapes and the Impending Disappearance of Japaneseness

4.3 Essentialised Japaneseness: the Vernacular Dwelling House

5 Preliminary Observations: Western Knowledge Production on Japanese Architecture up to the Turn of the Century and Its Canonisation in Handbooks

5.1 Japan in Western Architectural Handbooks

Chapter 4 Visiting and Visualising Architecture Buildings, Models, Images, Exoticism and the 'Esperanto' of Construction Drawing

1 Japanese Architectural Artefacts at the International Exhibitions in the West

1.1 London International Exhibition on Industry and Art, 1862

1.2 Exposition universelle d'art et d'industrie de Paris, 1867

1.3 Weltausstellung Wien, 1873

1.4 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, 1876

1.5 Exposition universelle de Paris, 1878

Excursus: the Japanese Native Village, London, 1885-1887

1.6 Exposition Universelle de Paris, 1889

1.7 World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, 1893

1.8 Exposition Universelle de Paris, 1900

2 Japanese Architecture Visualised: Books, Woodblock Prints and Souvenir Photographs

2.1 Illustrations in Western Books and Periodicals.

2.1.1 Publications on Artistic or Architectural Topics

2.1.2 Edward S. Morse's Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings

2.1.3 Publications on Japanese Culture in General

Excursus: Transfer Errors and Unintended Knowledge Production

2.2 Visual Material with Limited Dissemination in the West

2.2.1 Japanese Woodblock Prints

2.2.2 Souvenir Photographs

2.3 Visual Material Not Disseminated in the West

2.3.1 Documentary Photography

2.3.2 Hinagatabon

Chapter 5 Conclusions and Further Questions

Glossary of Technical Terms

Glossary of Persons

Bibliography

Figures: Colour Section

Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

90-04-72417-6

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004724174 DOI