[Ann Huynh]

The seminar on Exploring East Asian Visual Culture has been very rewarding and insightful.  I learned more about Japan and Korean cinemas, including North Korean.  There have been many films from these countries that showed the changes in culture and attitudes.  In addition to the films, there are many other types of art works, such as the postcards and sheet music in Japan, including Kabuki theatre, to the role of colors and symbols used in paintings and prints.  The variety of visual arts were numerous and plentiful.  My students are very young and they have very limited exposure to anything relating to Asia.  Therefore, I would use the film clips from the Asian countries to start a conversation about what it is that they are seeing.  I would like to choose films from different years to put the timeframe in perspective for them.  After viewing several film clips from the East Asian countries, I would like to move to posters and have the students think about its power in relations to propaganda.  This week-long seminar also provided me with many art forms to display.  Many of the art works contained a strong political message about the current ruling government.  I would like the students to think about the importance of visual representations.  Depending on what is shown, they would be equipped with the ability to analyze and look at visuals with a critical lens.  I would culminate the study about visuals by trying to visit the museum with the students so that they can experience the visuals firsthand.  The biggest takeaway that I would like them to have is that even though we speak a different language, visual arts can convey messages that transcend language.

[Ann Huynh]

I really appreciate how Professor Dube named films that showed the history of China.  These films would be a great hook to get students to think about events in history and see the impact that those events had on the psyche of the people.  For example, the film “Ju Dou” referenced the Cultural Revolution and the role of youths.  I would not show the entire film, but the snippet of the youths would be very powerful.  Another film about Mao’s rule is “To Live.”  This film is about communal kitchen, referencing the Great Leap Forward, where many Chinese ended up dying from famine.  These are just some of the films that showed the history of China as it moved toward modernity. 

[Ann Huynh]

What is in a name?  It was interesting when Professor Dube pointed out names in America that could possibly be influenced by the Chinese.  For example, he mentioned a city in Ohio with a very Chinese name, Canton.  I never knew that.  It started making me wonder how many other cities or towns that are linked to China.  It would be a great way to get the students to think about things that they know in America and then learn about who actually influenced the name.  We can map the various names on a Google map.  Another interesting and really accessible thing is Chinese foods.  There are many Chinese restaurants so getting the students to want to learn about China is to expose them to various Chinese foods so that they can make connections to the food in their own culture.    

[Ann Huynh]

Anime is fantastic.  They are cute and super adorable.  Many of my students watched Pokemon and they played Pokemon Go.  I would like to look at the different anime characters and have the students create a script for their anime characters.  This might motivate them to read more since there are cartoon illustrations associated with the story.  This is a great way to get the students interested in learning about Japan because many of the anime characters are still around today.  It is something they can relate to.

[Ann Huynh]

Kabuki Theatre is a really interesting art form in Japan.  It has changed over the years.  The actors are usually men.  The men in the play would portray both female and male roles.  The colors and makeup have a very prominent role In Kabuki that it even has a name, Wagoto.  This will be a great way to talk about symbolism and colors.  Usually in Kabuki, the evil characters will have green and blue makeup.  We can a have a class discussion about why these colors would represent evil.  I would like to have the students watch the website, Kabuki Cool, to have a better understanding of Kabuki.  Maybe they can create their own Kabuki production.    

[Ann Huynh]

I have never heard about Chinese soft power before this lecture.  It was very interesting to hear.  China’s soft power is strongly connected to its government and the Chinese government is trying to increase it outside of China.  They are trying to do this through films, but to date they have not had much success.   I also learned about the Chinese dream.  This would be interesting to compare with the American dream.  Maybe they can create a Chinese/American dream.

[Ann Huynh]

Japan’s manifest destiny is very similar to America’s manifest destiny.  This led to many conflicts and war between Japan and its neighbors.  In the end, the price of war led to the creation of a modern Japan.  As Japan began to rebuild itself after World War II, the influence and widespread production of postcards forced the population to become literate in order to read and take part in this rapidly growing invention.  Most of my students probably have no experience with postcards.  I really like how the postcards started harkening back to traditions.  I would like the students to think about traditions and what are traditions.  Some of the different images on the postcards would be a great way for them to study and learn about tradition.  We can look at different time period postcards and discuss what is happening in Japan at the time when the images were used.

[Ann Huynh]

The role of the Benshi in Japanese silent film is very unique.  I believe that I too would go watch a film through the narration of the Benshi.  They would add more drama to a silent film.  I really like how Professor Yasar helped us think about film with a critical lens.  For someone who is not a film buff, this was very helpful.  He posed several possible questions to help the film watcher connect back to their lives and all of this was done with the film “Tokyo Story.”  This film was very interesting in not only how it was filmed, but what the director chose to include in the film was very powerful.  Time passed with the change of the seasons and the death of the matriarch in the family.  For my students, I want them to think about the symbolic images in the film and what it could possibly mean.  Does this film make them think differently about family?

[Ann Huynh]

Professor’s Berry lecture about Chinese visual arts was jam packed with both old and current media that can be easily accessible.  He began the lecture by talking about the character of San Mao, the Chinese equivalent of Mickey Mouse, an extremely well known character in America.  I think that the students will be fascinated to learn about this character.  They can discuss the similarities and differences between the two characters.  What I felt that would be most useful was the book by Xu Bing.  This book is filled with emoji and I would like to have the students try to decode what was written.  It is a great way to hook them to study about Chinese calligraphy. 

[Ann Huynh]

It was really interesting to learn about the history of films in North Korea.  Most of the times, when North Korea is mentioned in the media in America it is because of some negative nuclear threat.  What was surprising was that the late second ruler of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, was a huge film buff and went so far as to have two South Koreans lived in North Korea and made films.  The film, “Love, Love, My Love” that Professor Kim featured in her discussion was about a love between a man and a woman and was very whimsical.  However, it was considered to be scandalous at the time.  This film would be useful in showcasing Korean outfits and the interiors of a North Korean home.  I think just letting students know that even though he was a fierce dictator, he had a passion for films will make him more relatable.

[Ann Huynh]

In "Women of Ukiyo-e” by Sampa Biswas, the author mentioned women, but mostly courtesans.  These are high end courtesans.  Although there are numerous representations of naked women, the most useful information for my students would be the different representation of this “floating world.”  In this world everyone is happy, in essence, paradise.  I would carefully select images from different years and have the students think about what is happening.  Is this paradise?  I would also like the students to think about the women’s role during this time in Japan.

[Ann Huynh]

When I read, “The Use of Film for Public Diplomacy: Why Hollywood Makes a Stronger Case for China" by Stanley Rosen, the author talked about why certain Hollywood films are more successful in China than others.  For example, he talked about the success of the film, 2012.  In this film, the Chinese people helped the Western.  The Chinese were represented favorably, thus, the film was able to garnered huge box office numbers.  I believed that all governments would want their country to be shown in a positive light, but unlike the United States, the Chinese government can restrict freedom of speech.  Therefore, if Hollywood wanted to continue to show their movies, they have to adapt as necessary.  For me, I would use the film clips in Kung Fu Panda 2 to talk about the scenery about China and contrast it with an actual photograph so that they can see what a part of China looked like. 

[Ann Huynh]

In the text, “Postcards, Commerce, and Creativity in Japan, 1904-1940,” it talked about the role of postcards in modernizing Japan.  Postcards were all the rage and it helped Japan achieved a literacy rate of 100% literacy because the people had to read the handwritten messages.  This is fascinating because the postcards can also be used as propaganda by the government to convey the message that everything is harmonious.  In my class, I would display the postcard images and talked about what is the message that the image is trying to convey.  Then, later on I will have the students create images that they might want to put on a postcard.  This is a unique way to talk about the different periods in Japan, by the different visuals in the postcard over time.

[Ann Huynh]

In poster #2, there is a beautiful, glistening bridge in the background and in the front are six people holding the Red book, which would be Mao Zedong’s book of quotations.  There is only one female in the image and the rest of them are males.  The people here consist of workers, soldiers, and peasants, Mao’s power base during the Cultural Revolution.  They all have huge grins on their faces.  Behind them, there is a red wave-like looking thing that resembled China’s flag.  What is most surprising is the prominent place that the red book has in the image.  This image is conveying that the red books will help them overcome all and that they are really proud.  I would say that this poster is sometimes during the 1950s-1960s.

[Ann Huynh]

 

I will start by saying that I do not know much about Japanese cinema, except for the ones made by Hiyao Miyazaki since I am more interested in anime.  However, when I read the article, I would say that Japanese cinema is very prolific in Japan and that there are many well known Western directors who studied this Japanese director, Ozu Yasujiro, going as far as emulating his style.  For my class, I would like to show them snippets of the film, Tokyo Story, and talked about the family dynamics in the film.  Often time, when I think about Asian family, it is usually the oldest who will take care of the parents, but in this film, their children does not, but a widowed daughter-in-law.  This is a very different perspective from how I was raised.  This film might be challenging for my students because it is in black and white and it is slow.

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