Outposts of Civilization : Race, Religion, and the Formative Years of American-Japanese Relations / Joseph M. Henning.
2000
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Title
Outposts of Civilization : Race, Religion, and the Formative Years of American-Japanese Relations / Joseph M. Henning.
Author
Henning, Joseph M., author.
ISBN
9780814744710
Published
New York, NY : : New York University Press, [2000]
Copyright
©2000
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource
Other Standard Identifiers
10.18574/nyu/9780814744710.001.0001 doi
Dewey Decimal Classification
303.48273052
Summary
Civilization and progress, Gilded Age Americans believed, were inseparable from Anglo-Saxon heritage and Christianity. In rising to become the first Asian and non-Christian world power, Meiji Japan (1868-1912) challenged this deeply-held conviction, and in so doing threatened racial and cultural hierarchies central to American ideology and foreign policy. To reconcile Japan's stature with American notions of Western supremacy, both nations embarked on an active campaign to construct an identity for the Japanese which would recognize Japan's progress and abilities without threatening Americans' faith in white, Christian superiority. Japanese efforts included reassurances in diplomatic exchanges and in the American press that their nation adhered to the central tenets of Western civilization, namely constitutional government, freedom of religion, and open commerce. Many anxious Americans eagerly accepted such offerings, and happily re-conceived the Japanese as adoptive Anglo-Saxons. As with the best new work in diplomatic history, in Outposts of Civilization Henning considers culture to be integral to understanding foreign relations. Thus in addition to official documents and press reports, he examines American missionaries' writings on the Japanese, and American and Japanese art and literature produced during the Gilded Age. In exploring the delicate and deliberate process of identity construction, and how these discourses on race and progress resonated throughout the twentieth century, Henning has produced a fascinating and important study of American-Japanese relations.
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Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
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text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 18. Sep 2023)
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Table of Contents
Frontmatter
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Editorial Note
Introduction
Chapter 1 Through a Reversed Opera Glass
Chapter 2 Christian Light and Heathen Darkness
Chapter 3 Wise Men from the West
Chapter 4 Nirvana and Hell
Chapter 5 A Dance of Diplomacy
Chapter 6 "The Most Un-Mongolian People in Asia"
Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Editorial Note
Introduction
Chapter 1 Through a Reversed Opera Glass
Chapter 2 Christian Light and Heathen Darkness
Chapter 3 Wise Men from the West
Chapter 4 Nirvana and Hell
Chapter 5 A Dance of Diplomacy
Chapter 6 "The Most Un-Mongolian People in Asia"
Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author