Iconographies of Occupation

Iconographies of Occupation is the first book to address how the “collaborationist” Reorganized National Government (RNG) in Japanese-occupied China sought to visualize its leader, Wang Jingwei (1883–1944); the Chinese people; and China itself. It explores the ways in which this administration sough...

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Main Author: Taylor, Jeremy E.
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: University of Hawai'i Press 2021
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Online Access:OCN: 1240268596
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author Taylor, Jeremy E.
author_browse Taylor, Jeremy E.
author_facet Taylor, Jeremy E.
author_sort Taylor, Jeremy E.
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Iconographies of Occupation is the first book to address how the “collaborationist” Reorganized National Government (RNG) in Japanese-occupied China sought to visualize its leader, Wang Jingwei (1883–1944); the Chinese people; and China itself. It explores the ways in which this administration sought to present itself to the people over which it ruled at different points between 1939, when the RNG was first being formulated, and August 1945, when it folded itself out of existence. What sorts of visual tropes were used in regime iconography and how were these used? What can the intertextual movement of visual tropes and motifs tell us about RNG artists and intellectuals and their understanding of the occupation and the war? Drawing on rarely before used archival records relating to propaganda and a range of visual media produced in occupied China by the RNG, the book examines the means used by this “client regime” to carve out a separate visual space for itself by reviving pre-war Chinese methods of iconography and by adopting techniques, symbols, and visual tropes from the occupying Japanese and their allies. Ultimately, however, the “occupied gaze” that was developed by Wang’s administration was undermined by its ultimate reliance on Japanese acquiescence for survival. In the continually shifting and fragmented iconographies that the RNG developed over the course of its short existence, we find an administration that was never completely in control of its own fate—or its message. Iconographies of Occupation presents a thoroughly original visual history approach to the study of a much-maligned regime and opens up new ways of understanding its place in wartime China. It also brings China under the RNG into dialogue with broader theoretical debates about the significance of “the visual” in the cultural politics of foreign occupation.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-642512025-07-30T05:35:45Z Iconographies of Occupation Taylor, Jeremy E. Political Science Political Process Media & Internet History Asia China Political Science Propaganda thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPV Political control and freedoms Iconographies of Occupation is the first book to address how the “collaborationist” Reorganized National Government (RNG) in Japanese-occupied China sought to visualize its leader, Wang Jingwei (1883–1944); the Chinese people; and China itself. It explores the ways in which this administration sought to present itself to the people over which it ruled at different points between 1939, when the RNG was first being formulated, and August 1945, when it folded itself out of existence. What sorts of visual tropes were used in regime iconography and how were these used? What can the intertextual movement of visual tropes and motifs tell us about RNG artists and intellectuals and their understanding of the occupation and the war? Drawing on rarely before used archival records relating to propaganda and a range of visual media produced in occupied China by the RNG, the book examines the means used by this “client regime” to carve out a separate visual space for itself by reviving pre-war Chinese methods of iconography and by adopting techniques, symbols, and visual tropes from the occupying Japanese and their allies. Ultimately, however, the “occupied gaze” that was developed by Wang’s administration was undermined by its ultimate reliance on Japanese acquiescence for survival. In the continually shifting and fragmented iconographies that the RNG developed over the course of its short existence, we find an administration that was never completely in control of its own fate—or its message. Iconographies of Occupation presents a thoroughly original visual history approach to the study of a much-maligned regime and opens up new ways of understanding its place in wartime China. It also brings China under the RNG into dialogue with broader theoretical debates about the significance of “the visual” in the cultural politics of foreign occupation. 2021-02-10T12:58:18Z 2021-03-30T03:30:50Z 2021 book OCN: 1240268596 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/47569 9780824887711 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/64251 eng open access image/png image/png image/png image/png n/a n/a n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/47569/1/external_content.epub https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/47569/1/external_content.epub https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/47569/1/external_content.epub https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/47569/1/external_content.epub University of Hawai'i Press University of Hawai'i Press e44031ed-f19b-493a-b6b0-2a6d8788d971 H2020 European Research Council Knowledge Unlatched 9780824887711 EU collection European Research Council (ERC) Knowledge Unlatched (KU) KU Open Services University of Hawai'i Press open access
spellingShingle Political Science
Political Process
Media & Internet
History
Asia
China
Political Science
Propaganda
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPV Political control and freedoms
Taylor, Jeremy E.
Iconographies of Occupation
title Iconographies of Occupation
title_full Iconographies of Occupation
title_fullStr Iconographies of Occupation
title_full_unstemmed Iconographies of Occupation
title_short Iconographies of Occupation
title_sort iconographies of occupation
topic Political Science
Political Process
Media & Internet
History
Asia
China
Political Science
Propaganda
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPV Political control and freedoms
topic_facet Political Science
Political Process
Media & Internet
History
Asia
China
Political Science
Propaganda
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPH Political structure and processes
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPV Political control and freedoms
url OCN: 1240268596
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