Imaging Disaster: Tokyo and the Visual Culture of Japan’s Great Earthquake of 1923 (Volume 22)

Focusing on one landmark catastrophic event in the history of an emerging modern nation-the Great Kant? Earthquake that devastated Tokyo and surrounding areas in 1923-this fascinating volume examines the history of the visual production of the disaster. The Kant? earthquake triggered cultural responses that ran the gamut from voyeuristic and macabre thrill to the romantic sublime, media spectacle to sacred space, mournful commemoration to emancipatory euphoria, and national solidarity to racist vigilantism and sociopolitical critique. Looking at photography, cinema, painting, postcards, sketch. Read more... Abstract: Focusing on one landmark catastrophic event in the history of an emerging modern nation - the Great Kanto Earthquake that devastated Tokyo and surrounding areas in 1923, this volume examines the history of the visual production of the disaster. Read more... Focusing On One Landmark Catastrophic Event In The History Of An Emerging Modern Nation--the Great Kantō Earthquake That Devastated Tokyo And Surrounding Areas In 1923--this Fascinating Volume Examines The History Of The Visual Production Of The Disaster. The Kantō Earthquake Triggered Cultural Responses That Ran The Gamut From Voyeuristic And Macabre Thrill To The Romantic Sublime, Media Spectacle To Sacred Space, Mournful Commemoration To Emancipatory Euphoria, And National Solidarity To Racist Vigilantism And Sociopolitical Critique. Looking At Photography, Cinema, Painting, Postcards, Sketching, Urban Planning, And Even Scientific Visualizations, Weisenfeld Argues That That Visual Culture Has Powerfully Mediated The Evolving Historical Understanding Of This Major National Disaster, Ultimately Enfolding Mourning And Memory Into Modernization [publisher Description] Earthquakes In Japan: A Brief Prehistory -- The Media Scale Of Catastrophe -- Disaster As Spectacle -- The Sublime Nature Of Ruins -- Reclaiming Disaster: Altruism And Corrosion -- Reconstruction's Visual Rhetoric -- Remembrance -- Epilogue: Afterlives. Gennifer Weisenfeld. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

Focusing on one landmark catastrophic event in the history of an emerging modern nation—the Great Kanto Earthquake that devastated Tokyo and surrounding areas in 1923—this fascinating volume examines the history of the visual production of the disaster. The Kanto earthquake triggered cultural responses that ran the gamut from voyeuristic and macabre thrill to the romantic sublime, media spectacle to sacred space, mournful commemoration to emancipatory euphoria, and national solidarity to racist vigilantism and sociopolitical critique. Looking at photography, cinema, painting, postcards, sketching, urban planning, and even scientific visualizations, Weisenfeld demonstrates how visual culture has powerfully mediated the evolving historical understanding of this major national disaster, ultimately enfolding mourning and memory into modernization.