Synopses & Reviews
The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 has been widely seen as a historical turning point. This book goes beyond the military and world political grand narratives to examine the war's social, cultural, literary, and intellectual impact. Containing contributions by established scholars in the fields of military history and the history and literature of both Russia and Japan, it offers for the first time in English a comparative perspective on symbolic meaning of the conflict.
Review
“[the book is] quite relevant to our contemporary issues despite its concern with the war of almost a century ago.” —
Journal of Asian Studies“This book now fills the gap by gathering specialists of both Russia and Japan...succeeds in showing that the Russo-Japanese war left a deep impact on the historical memory of Russians and Japanese alike.” —Russian Review
Synopsis
The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 has been widely seen as a historical turning-point. For the first time in modern history an Asian and a European country competed on equal terms, overturning the prevailing balance of power. Based on a wide range of original source material in Russian, Japanese and other languages, this book goes beyond the military and international political grand narratives to examine the war's social, cultural, literary and intellectual impact in their historical context. In Japan the war reinforced the country's self-image as a 'coming' nation, while in Russia, combined with the revolution of 1905 and later political and social upheaval, it was seen as separating the old regime from the new. Throughout the world, 'spirit' was seen to be a decisive factor, and cultural considerations determined the war's interpretation. Featuring contributions by established scholars in the fields of military history and the history and literature of both Russia and Japan, this book offers for the first time a comparative perspective on the symbolic meaning of the conflict."
Synopsis
Acknowledgements Note on Names and Dates Notes on Contributors Foreword Introduction Firepower or Willpower?: The Unlearned Military Lessons of the Russo-Japanese War; S.P.MacKenzie Traditions of War Literature in Medieval Japan: A Study of the Heike Monogatari; R.Pandey Japanese Literary Responses to the Russo-Japanese War; T.Aoyama Paradigms of War in Russian Literature from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century; D.Wells The Russo-Japanese War in Russian Literature; D.Wells Easts and Wests Befuddled: Russian Intellegentsia Responses to the Russo-Japanese War; A.Jones The Russo-Japanese War and Japan: Politics, Nationalism and Historical Memory; S.Wilson Conclusion Bibliography Index
Synopsis
The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 has been widely seen as a historical turning point. This book goes beyond the military and world political grand narratives to examine the war's social, cultural, literary, and intellectual impact. Containing contributions by established scholars in the fields of military history and the history and literature of both Russia and Japan, it offers for the first time in English a comparative perspective on symbolic meaning of the conflict.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-207) and index.
About the Author
David Wells is a Librarian at Curtin University of Technology in Perth.
Sandra Wilson is Senior Lecturer and Chair of the Japanese Studies Program at Murdoch University, Perth.
Table of Contents
Introduction--Sandra Wilson & David Wells * Willpower or Firepower? The Unlearned Military Lessons of the Russo-Japanese War--S.P. MacKenzie * Traditions of War Literature in Medieval Japan: A Study of the
Heike Monogatari --Rajyashree Pandey * Japanese Literary Responses to the Russo-Japanese War--Tomoko Aoyama * Paradigms of War in Russian Literature from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century--David Wells * The Russo-Japanese War in Russian Literature--David Wells * Easts and Wests Befuddled: Russian Intelligentsia Responses to the Russo-Japanese War--Adrian Jones * The Russo-Japanese War and Japan: Politics, Nationalism, and Historical Memory--Sandra Wilson
Introduction--Sandra Wilson & David Wells * Willpower or Firepower? The Unlearned Military Lessons of the Russo-Japanese War--S.P. MacKenzie * Traditions of War Literature in Medieval Japan: A Study of the Heike Monogatari --Rajyashree Pandey * Japanese Literary Responses to the Russo-Japanese War--Tomoko Aoyama * Paradigms of War in Russian Literature from the Twelfth to the Nineteenth Century--David Wells * The Russo-Japanese War in Russian Literature--David Wells * Easts and Wests Befuddled: Russian Intelligentsia Responses to the Russo-Japanese War--Adrian Jones * The Russo-Japanese War and Japan: Politics, Nationalism, and Historical Memory--Sandra Wilson