The East through the eyes of the West: Japan's aesthetic influence on Western art in the age of Japonisme
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2025-02-17
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en
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The aesthetic influence of Japan after the 'opening' of the country in 1853 on Western art was immense. This thesis discusses the cultural representation of the Japanese geisha and tea culture in the late nineteenth-century travel book Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by English travel writer Isabella Bird (1831-1904). Isabella Bird was an experienced traveller who travelled to Japan in 1878. She published her travel account about her trip in 1880 in two volumes. In 1885 both volumes were combined into one book, this version proved to be her most popular travel account.
In the first part of this thesis, the state of the art is discussed through different themes; the history of Japan, Orientalism, Japonisme and Japan in Western (travel) literature. Secondly, an extensive description of the publication history of Unbeaten Tracks in Japan is discussed. Different volumes are compared (1880,1885 and 1911), where differences and similarities are highlighted. Lastly, two chapters discuss two different themes in Unbeaten Tracks in Japan. The figure of the geisha and the tea culture in Japan, both two popular themes within Japonisme, are analyzed in Bird's travel account.
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Faculteit der Letteren