Paris, Japan, and modernity: a vexed ratio

This essay uses mobility as a way to tackle the nominal question, “Is Paris Still the Capital of the Nineteenth Century?” By examining the illustrated travel narratives of two Frenchmen in Japan, Émile Guimet, founder of the eponymous museum of Asian art in Paris, and the artist Félix Régamey, who a...

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Main Author: Chang, Ting
Other Authors: Clayson, Hollis
Format: Book Section
Published: Ashgate Publishing 2015
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34451/
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author Chang, Ting
author2 Clayson, Hollis
author_facet Clayson, Hollis
Chang, Ting
author_sort Chang, Ting
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
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description This essay uses mobility as a way to tackle the nominal question, “Is Paris Still the Capital of the Nineteenth Century?” By examining the illustrated travel narratives of two Frenchmen in Japan, Émile Guimet, founder of the eponymous museum of Asian art in Paris, and the artist Félix Régamey, who accompanied him on his tour in 1876, I argue that travel and transport provide a vehicle through which to challenge the centrality of Paris, and by extension, the West in the nineteenth century. By moving our attention to Japan, we can better understand the changing balance of power between East and West in the nineteenth century, and the contested terms of center and periphery that have preoccupied recent scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
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spelling nottingham-344512020-05-04T16:59:26Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34451/ Paris, Japan, and modernity: a vexed ratio Chang, Ting This essay uses mobility as a way to tackle the nominal question, “Is Paris Still the Capital of the Nineteenth Century?” By examining the illustrated travel narratives of two Frenchmen in Japan, Émile Guimet, founder of the eponymous museum of Asian art in Paris, and the artist Félix Régamey, who accompanied him on his tour in 1876, I argue that travel and transport provide a vehicle through which to challenge the centrality of Paris, and by extension, the West in the nineteenth century. By moving our attention to Japan, we can better understand the changing balance of power between East and West in the nineteenth century, and the contested terms of center and periphery that have preoccupied recent scholars in the humanities and social sciences. Ashgate Publishing Clayson, Hollis Dombrowski, Andrew 2015-02-01 Book Section PeerReviewed Chang, Ting (2015) Paris, Japan, and modernity: a vexed ratio. In: Is Paris still the capital of the nineteenth century? Essays on art and modernity, 1850-1900. Ashgate Publishing, Burlington, pp. 1-27. ISBN 9781472460141 https://www.routledge.com/Is-Paris-Still-the-Capital-of-the-Nineteenth-Century-Essays-on-Art-and/Clayson-Dombrowski/p/book/9781472460141
spellingShingle Chang, Ting
Paris, Japan, and modernity: a vexed ratio
title Paris, Japan, and modernity: a vexed ratio
title_full Paris, Japan, and modernity: a vexed ratio
title_fullStr Paris, Japan, and modernity: a vexed ratio
title_full_unstemmed Paris, Japan, and modernity: a vexed ratio
title_short Paris, Japan, and modernity: a vexed ratio
title_sort paris, japan, and modernity: a vexed ratio
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34451/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34451/