The Premise of Fidelity

Science, Visuality, and Representing the Real in Nineteenth-Century Japan

Nonfiction, History, Asian, Japan, Art & Architecture, General Art, Art History
Cover of the book The Premise of Fidelity by Maki Fukuoka, Stanford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Maki Fukuoka ISBN: 9780804784627
Publisher: Stanford University Press Publication: August 15, 2012
Imprint: Stanford University Press Language: English
Author: Maki Fukuoka
ISBN: 9780804784627
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Publication: August 15, 2012
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Language: English

The Premise of Fidelity puts forward a new history of Japanese visuality through an examination of the discourses and practices surrounding the nineteenth century transposition of "the real" in the decades before photography was introduced. This intellectual history is informed by a careful examination of a network of local scholars—from physicians to farmers to bureaucrats—known as Shōhyaku-sha. In their archival materials, these scholars used the term shashin (which would, years later, come to signify "photography" in Japanese) in a wide variety of medical, botanical, and pictorial practices. These scholars pursued questions of the relationship between what they observed and what they believed they knew, in the process investigating scientific ideas and practices by obsessively naming and classifying, and then rendering through highly accurate illustration, the objects of their study. This book is an exploration of the process by which the Shōhyaku-sha shaped the concept of shashin. As such, it disrupts the dominant narratives of photography, art, and science in Japan, providing a prehistory of Japanese photography that requires the accepted history of the discipline to be rewritten.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Premise of Fidelity puts forward a new history of Japanese visuality through an examination of the discourses and practices surrounding the nineteenth century transposition of "the real" in the decades before photography was introduced. This intellectual history is informed by a careful examination of a network of local scholars—from physicians to farmers to bureaucrats—known as Shōhyaku-sha. In their archival materials, these scholars used the term shashin (which would, years later, come to signify "photography" in Japanese) in a wide variety of medical, botanical, and pictorial practices. These scholars pursued questions of the relationship between what they observed and what they believed they knew, in the process investigating scientific ideas and practices by obsessively naming and classifying, and then rendering through highly accurate illustration, the objects of their study. This book is an exploration of the process by which the Shōhyaku-sha shaped the concept of shashin. As such, it disrupts the dominant narratives of photography, art, and science in Japan, providing a prehistory of Japanese photography that requires the accepted history of the discipline to be rewritten.

More books from Stanford University Press

Cover of the book The American Yawp by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Mother Folly by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Emissaries from the Holy Land by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Militarizing Men by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Connecting Histories in Afghanistan by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book The Social Conscience of the Early Victorians by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Isolate or Engage by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Between Movement and Establishment by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Sectarian Gulf by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Youth, Globalization, and the Law by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book A History of the Modern Middle East by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Between Threats and War by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book The Choice of Achilles by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Between Birth and Death by Maki Fukuoka
Cover of the book Adcreep by Maki Fukuoka
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy