Description:

The Phyllis Lyons Lecture in Japanese Studies

A Talk by Sharalyn Orbaugh 

Exploiting hate in order to reinforce boundaries between “valorous us” and “demonized them” is often identified in studies of propaganda as the primary affective mode, particularly in the context of World War II. An examination of kamishibai (literally, paper theater), one of the most widely dissemination forms of propaganda in Japan’s empire in the 1930s and 1940s, reveals a different affective structure in plays created both for the home front and the colonies: the insidiously persuasive power of exploiting love and blurring boundaries between self and other. This presentation looks at the illustrations and scripts of kamishibai plays performed in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese between 1938 and 1945 to trace patterns of affiliation, attachment, and love, used in the service of marshalling support for Japan’s efforts to assimilate and militarize its colonies and occupied territories. 

Sharalyn Orbaugh is Professor of Japanese Literature and Popular Culture and Head of the department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia.