The Power of Hollywood Films of Morris-Suzuki - Annotated Bibliography Example

Morris-Suzuki, T. (2005). "The Moving Image," The Past Within Us: Media, Memory, History, New York, NY: Verso, pp. 120-157 Morris-Suzuki’s The Moving Image attempts to capture in so many words the power of films, particularly Hollywood movies, to draw its audience to a world of its creation and shape or even reshape the latter’s perspectives of reality and history. The author calls this over-all impact the global myth. Morris-Suzuki examines in particular the role of films in understanding the past illustrating this point by citing several Hollywood films that made great impact on its audience, such as The Birth of Nation and the more recent Amistad. To emphasise the power of films on the audience, Morris-Suzuki first examines the movie Night and Fog released in 1955, particularly describing her feelings and insights as she views it. She describes how the movie realistically portrays the Algerian war and how the sets were made to capture the essence of military camps and how she becomes drawn to the reality presented by the movie, even closing her eyes at times to shut out distressing scenes and most of the time immersed into its landscape. Morris-Suzuki’s experience of the film illustrates the immersive power of the medium to draw the audience into a world of its own creation resulting in the temporary loss of present time and space displaced by the movie’s own version of time and space. For the author, still photographs have the power to burn images into one’s mind, but it is only the medium of films that can emotionally move its audience to laughter and tears. The power of Hollywood films, according to Morris-Suzuki, is such that their impact goes even beyond the period of the film duration generating consequences such as other forms of historical representation. These historical representations take the form of other medium, such as in writing, television, internet and others. Morris-Suzuki cites the case of Amistad, a movie about the trial of African slaves that committed an uprising during a journey of a slave ship from Cuba to America. The showing of the film generated reviews and articles, critiques, examinations and articles that express new views with the film as a justification. Morris-Suzuki points out Hollywood films as persuasive and influential medium that have the ability to compel people to notice and take a second look at issues they did not or could not have been bothered before and, thus, “helped to set an agenda within this upsurge of remembering and reinterpretation.”1 The impact of films on history cannot just be simply determined by scrutinising the contents of the film, according to Morris-Suzuki, but by looking at the process of interpretation that it initiated in its audience. Historians have realised the impact of films and have made themselves involved in film-making, according to Morris-Suzuki. However, some historians have offered the observation that films have damaged history because of some filmmakers’ tendency to depart from historical truth. Such observations often spurred debates on the relationship between history and identification, on one hand, and the relationship between history and interpretation, on the other. Morris-Suzuki cites the variance of views between Jarvie and Raack, two American scholars. Raack sees movies as the perfect medium to fully convey the reality of history because of its capacity to present life in a more complex way to its audience than other medium. Jarvie, on the other hand, believes that films have inherent weak qualities that result in the too narrow presentation of history. Particularly, Jarvie resents the absence of opportunity for historians to debate and refute other historical views in the medium. For her part, Morris-Suzuki seems to favour films as a venue for telling history because of their inherent qualities to draw the audience emotionally and personally and their capacity to frame historical experiences that evoke intense remembering. Bolitho, H. (1985). "Japanese Kingship," Patterns of Kingship and Authority in Traditional Asia, Mabbett, I. (ed), London, UK: Croom Helm, pp. 24-43. This week’s reading featuring Bolitho’s article Japanese Kingship provides some background to the history of Japanese emperors and their role and functions in Japanese society. Highlighting the fact that historically Japanese emperors number one hundred and twenty-four yet most of them virtually unknown even to educated Japanese, Bolitho uses this point to start an argument how Japanese emperors are unlike any other monarchical systems. Bolitho characterises Japanese monarchy as an imperial institution that has lasted for a long time and has no historical impact. He suggests that the relevance of Japanese emperors in Japanese society is their supposed connection to the gods. Believed to have ascended from the Sun goddess, the Imperial dynasty family’s role was largely to ensure that the Japanese have access to the heavenly beings so that stability of agricultural products, amongst others, is never placed in the balance. This explains the reason why the lineage of the Imperial family is unbroken unlike, for example, European monarchs where Houses rise and fall. Yet, Bolitho demurs at the idea that Japanese emperors can be likened to the Pope in Rome. Popes, according to the author, have broad influence and power – something that Japanese emperors did not have. It would seem that the author viewed the role of Japanese emperors as plainly ministerial confined to rituals although admittedly spiritual in character. The very narrow confines of the role and function of Japanese emperors must be the reason of their lack of historical impact. In other jurisdictions, kings and emperors were historical link to the governance of their respective kingdoms. This has never been true for Japanese emperors, according to Bolitho. Instead governance and administration can be traced to forces and personalities outside of the emperorship. There were three groups that usually held the helm of political governance in Japan, according to the author: family members of the imperial family, but not the emperor himself although there were some retired emperors who eventually involved themselves in politics; members of aristocratic families, and; the samurai also called the warrior aristocracy. Not only were Japanese emperors often left out in the governance of the country, but they were plain and simple powerless. Bolitho cites a case when an emperor had to delay his coronation for 20 because he could not come up with funds to spend on the coronation or in another case where an emperor had to ply his crafts in the streets to support himself. Bolitho, however, distinguishes between pre-modern and modern Japanese emperors and uses this as an explanation why Japanese emperors are often perceived as powerless. Japanese emperors, according to him, are a political construct that started to be floated in the 1860s. Around that time, radicals sought to overthrow the sitting government and exploited the position of emperorship to accomplish that goal. To ensure the success of their goal, the radicals enhanced the position to make it attractive to the people and patterned it after the European model – a figurehead of the country, with all the trappings often characterising the model. The effect is the creation of an imperial myth that did not exist previously, but had the retroactive effect of influencing perspective of pre-modern emperors. Thus, emperors who were previously unknown and no one cared to remember were built new monuments and became markers of national events and holidays. Bolitho’s point is that by Japanese traditions, emperors were not really significant figures in Japanese society and were unlike monarchs in other countries. They were not expected to be important figures in society. However, movement in Japan modern era began to attribute qualities to emperorship to bring the concept within European models forcing a Japanese emperorship discourse that used to be inapplicable to pre-modern times, but is now extended to that period. Rosenstone, Robert A. "History in Images/History in Words: Reflections on the Possibility of Really Putting History onto Film." In Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to our Idea of History, 19-44. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. The reading for this week, i.e. Rosenstone’s History in Images/History in Words: Reflections on the Possiblity of Putting History onto Film, deliberates the impact of the use of visual imagery to present history, which has long been associated with a “cultural tradition which has long privileged the written word.”2 It provides an insight into a historian’s personal feelings when his work is being transformed from the pages of his writings to the big screen. Writing in the first person point-of-view, Rosenstone contemplates new realities as history is presented through moving images on the big screen and whether this kind of presentation adds or diminishes the goals of a historian. Although Rosenstone admits the positive features of moving visual imageries in the presentation of historical information, he believes that films cannot fully deliver or meet the demands of history. The movie Reds is a full-length movie produced by Hollywood in 1982 that fictionalises the life of John Reed – an American poet and revolutionary. On the other hand, The Good Fight, released two years later, is a documentary that depicts the story of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, which was a group of American volunteers that participated in the Spanish Civil War through accounts of veterans in the war. He reports that both the movies failed to achieve his idea of what history should be. He cites fictionalisation and lack of verification as glaring flaws of the movies and the limited narrative approach used to present history, which he describes as linear and single manner of interpretation.3 As a matter of fact, Rosenstone worries about the long-term havoc that films might wreck on the subject of history. Believing that films will gradually become the common method of presenting actual stories of the past because of the more tempting possibilities it present to audiences, Rosenstone contemplates whether films can ever be the right medium to present for recounting the past rather than the traditional written words. On one hand, he cites R.J Raack - a historian who believes that the written word is too confined to fully express the multidimensional world that people live in. Film is more appropriate, according to that view, because of the juxtaposition of sound and images and the ability to execute camera approaches that can highlight ideas, emotions and consciousness. On the other hand, Rosenstone cites Ian Jarvine - a philosopher who looks at the issue from a contrary perspective and sees films as inadequate to fully express a historian’s perspective on the premise that history is largely a debate between historians. The lack of opportunity to footnote, refute opposing views and criticise them present a big problem for historians. He then points out that the strength of films that Raack seems to favour is the very thing that Jarvie perceives as its weakness – the absence of opportunity to reflect, verify and debate because of the prisoner effect that a movie has on its audience precluding it from distancing itself from the overwhelming imageries presented on the screen. Rosenstone winds up his article with enough mystery as to his real feelings about films and its role in history. Rather than outright approving or rejecting the medium’s place in history, he simply poses a question to the readers as the new possibilities that films can open to history and the recounting of the past citing Plato in the process. He simply guides and nudges the reader to contemplate on this subject without committing himself to make a definitive position except make rather abstract and vague references to unknown possibilities that films can open to history. Meech-Pekarik, J. (1986). "Japan as World Power," The World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a New Civilization, New York, NY: Weatherhill, pp. 200-232. Meech-Pekarik’s article is interestingly entitled “Japan as a World Power,” but actually features extensively more about Japanese artwork than the country’s military incursions into its neighbours. Although it briefly mentions Japan’s wars with China and Russia, the article features pages after pages of Japanese artwork that includes woodworks, triptychs, and prints. Meech-Pekarik weaves these artworks into the narrative by underpinning them with its military successes, notably against China and Russia. The author starts by recalling the Sino-Japanese war from 1894-1895 as ultimate evidence of Japan’s full commitment to civilization. Japan’s success in that war generated, according to the author, international respect for Japan. The underlying reason for Japan’s military initiative against China stemmed from the desire to outwit the West in gaining foothold in the Asian region. Rather than expand on Japan’s success in that war and providing more insight as to how Japan came at that juncture to be established as a world power, Meech-Pekarik explains how that war engendered a slew of Japanese artwork that celebrated the country’s success against the Japanese interpreted though woodcuts or images embedded in wood generating about 3,000 triptych designs in the course of the war. The most prolific artist at that time was Kobayashi Kiyochica – an expert of loose-sheet prints – produced 80 triptychs and hundreds of comic prints where prior to the war he only produced prints once in a while. Meech-Pekarik features illustrations of these artworks in the pages of the article describing some of them in detail and pointing out features that were obviously inspired by the Sino-Japan war. For example, Migueta Toshihide’s photograph of Pingyang features a cloud of smoke enveloping soldiers from the Japanese First Army clashing with Chinese soldiers, whilst Mitzuno Toshikata created a triptych where Japanese naval officers are huddled together developing a strategy before the encounter with Chinese soldiers in the Yellow Sea. The author also cites other artworks depicting a portion or part of the War. Poems were also written, according to Meech-Pazarik, to honour heroes of the war particularly a bugler who sounded the charge even after he was hit by bullet and died immediately after the bugle call. The author cites several other battle prints commemorating the Japanese victory during the War as well as photography. Similarly, the Russo-Japanese war struck the same inspiration in Japanese artists, according to Meech-Pazarik. The War was initiated by Russia when it launched a surprise attack against a Russia fleet with the goal of driving them out from Manchuria. Japan’s success in that war cemented its international reputation as a global power, according to the author. Occurring in the year 1904, the War likewise produced inspired triptychs, paintings, drawings and other artworks. It was also around at this time that newspapers began to emerge in Japan replacing the single-sheet print. Also “delicately carved hand-printed illustrations of high quality were bound into novels and magazines as luxury supplements.” 4 Although these artworks were uniquely Japanese, Western influence can be detected in them, according to the author. For example, in one painting a Japanese woman garbed in the country’s national costume is seen holding a folding pocket Kodak – a very popular camera at that time. All in all, these artworks were instrumental in projecting a Japanese country that was both modernising and becoming a world power at the same time. Tipton, E. (2008). "An Emerging Mass Society," Modern Japan: A Social and Political History, London, UK: Routledge, 2008, pp. 93-113. In his article An Emerging Mass Society, Tipton outlines the gains achieved by the Taisho period that reigned in Japan in the short period between 1912 and 1926. Although the Taisho period did not make as much waves as the subsequent period – largely because it was a quieter and calmer period politically and internationally – Tipton believes that the extent of social, cultural and political developments in this era were very significant. The author particularly cites developments around the world as significantly impacting and influencing domestic changes during the period. These international developments include the Russian Revolution in 1917, the German Revolution the following year, and both the rise of labour movement in Great Britain and the United States in the political front and in the labour relations front, respectively. The First World War, on the other hand, inspired developments in modernisation, urbanisation and industrialisation. Environmental and natural occurrences likewise impacted social and cultural developments, according to Tipton. Tipton cites peaceful internationalism, party rule and democratisation, equality movements, urbanisation and social diversification, the emergence of a mass consumer society, and the pursuit of culture based on individualism as characterising the era. Although World War I occurred during this period, Tipton points to an atmosphere of peaceful internationalism that prevailed during this period largely because of the minimal exposure of Japan to it. As a result of aligning itself with the British, Japan shared in the spoils of war such as the occupation of German territories in China. Nonetheless, believing in the efficacy of diplomacy and participation in international agreements, Japan pursued peaceful internationalism by returning Shandong territories to China, amongst others. This diplomatic perspective was also reflected in military budget cuts and the emphasis on achievements in diplomacy in education. The period also witnessed the rise of political parties in Japan illustrated by the dominance of Hara’s Seiyukai party and its closest rival, Kato’s Kensekai. These parties, however, were not grassroots-based and failed to institute wide-ranging social and political reforms because of their close links to business and rural leaders. Tipton points out the diverging perspectives of historians as to the impact of the rise of political parties during the period with some historians condemning the limited liberalism of the parties and other historians suggesting that the system became a forerunner of the events of the 1930s and the 1940s where the military took over the country. Tipton claims that the over-emphasis on the limited liberalism of political parties that emerged in the period overlooked an important development, which is the rise of the mass consumer society in the country. Work and education opportunities attracted women and young men to the cities resulting in the rapid urbanisation during the period. The First World War preoccupied Europeans and gave opportunity to Japan to increase production to meet demand left unmet by European manufacturers. Japanese flocked to cities to obtain work and education, because the latter was perceived as providing insurance for success. The recession in the 1920s compelled women to work in the cities to help in providing for their families. Poor women sought jobs in textile industries, whilst middle class ones pursued teaching and clerical jobs, nursing and journalism. Tipton cites Tokyo as the best exemplification of rapid urbanization during the Taisho period whose population reached 4 million – a figure that doubled the 1895 statistics. The affluent lifestyle of the new urban middle class became the ideal way of living and there was a growing emphasis on culture, represented by modern and stylish items. Bibliography Bolitho, Harold. "Japanese Kingship." In Patterns of Kingship and Authority in Traditional Asia, edited by Ian William Mabbett, 24-43. London, UK: Croom Helm, 1985. Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. "The Moving Image." In The Past within Us: Media, Memory, History, 120-157. New York, NY: Verso, 2005. Meech-Pekarik, J. "Japan as World Power." In The World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a New Civilization, 200-232. New York, NY: Weatherhill, 1986. Rosenstone, Robert A. "History in Images/History in Words: Reflections on the Possibility of Really Putting History onto Film." In Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to our Idea of History, 19-44. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Tipton, Elise K. "An Emerging Mass Society." In Modern Japan: A Social and Political History, 93-113. London, UK: Routledge, 2008. Read More

Historians have realised the impact of films and have made themselves involved in film-making, according to Morris-Suzuki. However, some historians have offered the observation that films have damaged history because of some filmmakers’ tendency to depart from historical truth. Such observations often spurred debates on the relationship between history and identification, on one hand, and the relationship between history and interpretation, on the other. Morris-Suzuki cites the variance of views between Jarvie and Raack, two American scholars.

Raack sees movies as the perfect medium to fully convey the reality of history because of its capacity to present life in a more complex way to its audience than other medium. Jarvie, on the other hand, believes that films have inherent weak qualities that result in the too narrow presentation of history. Particularly, Jarvie resents the absence of opportunity for historians to debate and refute other historical views in the medium. For her part, Morris-Suzuki seems to favour films as a venue for telling history because of their inherent qualities to draw the audience emotionally and personally and their capacity to frame historical experiences that evoke intense remembering.

Bolitho, H. (1985). "Japanese Kingship," Patterns of Kingship and Authority in Traditional Asia, Mabbett, I. (ed), London, UK: Croom Helm, pp. 24-43. This week’s reading featuring Bolitho’s article Japanese Kingship provides some background to the history of Japanese emperors and their role and functions in Japanese society. Highlighting the fact that historically Japanese emperors number one hundred and twenty-four yet most of them virtually unknown even to educated Japanese, Bolitho uses this point to start an argument how Japanese emperors are unlike any other monarchical systems.

Bolitho characterises Japanese monarchy as an imperial institution that has lasted for a long time and has no historical impact. He suggests that the relevance of Japanese emperors in Japanese society is their supposed connection to the gods. Believed to have ascended from the Sun goddess, the Imperial dynasty family’s role was largely to ensure that the Japanese have access to the heavenly beings so that stability of agricultural products, amongst others, is never placed in the balance. This explains the reason why the lineage of the Imperial family is unbroken unlike, for example, European monarchs where Houses rise and fall.

Yet, Bolitho demurs at the idea that Japanese emperors can be likened to the Pope in Rome. Popes, according to the author, have broad influence and power – something that Japanese emperors did not have. It would seem that the author viewed the role of Japanese emperors as plainly ministerial confined to rituals although admittedly spiritual in character. The very narrow confines of the role and function of Japanese emperors must be the reason of their lack of historical impact. In other jurisdictions, kings and emperors were historical link to the governance of their respective kingdoms.

This has never been true for Japanese emperors, according to Bolitho. Instead governance and administration can be traced to forces and personalities outside of the emperorship. There were three groups that usually held the helm of political governance in Japan, according to the author: family members of the imperial family, but not the emperor himself although there were some retired emperors who eventually involved themselves in politics; members of aristocratic families, and; the samurai also called the warrior aristocracy.

Not only were Japanese emperors often left out in the governance of the country, but they were plain and simple powerless. Bolitho cites a case when an emperor had to delay his coronation for 20 because he could not come up with funds to spend on the coronation or in another case where an emperor had to ply his crafts in the streets to support himself. Bolitho, however, distinguishes between pre-modern and modern Japanese emperors and uses this as an explanation why Japanese emperors are often perceived as powerless.

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