Gender and the Arts of Japan

Representation, construction, and politics of gender in the visual and performing arts of Japan. Topics include medieval stories of gender transformation, genders relationship to Buddhist salvation, the patronage and artistic practice of women, the gendering of script and clothing, the inter-war visual culture of hyper-masculinity, and the theatricality of gender performance in kabuki. Address the gendering of abstract conceptsespecially that of the nation statein modern discourse. Concludes with a look at the stakes of gender in postwar and contemporary Japanese art. No previous experience with Japan, art, feminist theory, or gender theory is necessary.