ARTH 268 The Japanese Woodblock Print

This course examines the Japanese woodblock print from its emergence in the mid-seventeenth century to the modern era. We will investigate topics such as technological innovations, changing habits of looking, censorship and resistance in the creation of popular culture, the role of prints as a medium of reportage and propaganda, Japonisme and the construction of Japanese art, and global exchanges of materials and ideas. By tracing the historical development of Japanese prints, we will examine how woodblock prints were reconceptualized from a popular medium of visual culture to a quintessential embodiment of Japanese aesthetic tradition.