Forum Project

Within the canonical histories of modernity, especially in literature studies and the discipline of history of art, the ‘Western’ countries – France, England, the United States – are seen as the instigators of what we now see as artistic and cultural modernism. With this forum we aim to provide an intercultural study of some key authors and artists, whose contributions to modernity have not been sufficiently covered in extant scholarship. Hence, we strive to establish that ‘modernity’ was not created in isolation in Western spheres, but came into existence through intercultural exchanges and mutual relationship between ‘East’ and ‘West’.

The title of this forum aims to reflect this with the title “Reflecting/Reflected Modernity: Sites of Interface Between the Occidental and the Oriental” to open discussion on how modern ideas of modernity came into existence through a reflection of ‘Eastern’ influences in the ‘West’ and ‘Western’ influences in the ‘East’. As such, we aim to comment on the primacy given to the ‘West’ in the construction of modernity in the production of art and literature in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The papers will focus on Eastern Asia, particularly Japan and Taiwan, and their respective relations to France and England to provide a much-needed perspective from oriental powers as equally engaged in this surge of modernisation. The roundtable at the end of the afternoon will function to open discussions around terminology, such as ‘West’, ‘East’, ‘modernity’, and others, as well as further research.

This forum has three overarching thematic strands:

1. The intercultural: juxtaposing different cultural identities with their specific historical background to demonstrate how a foreign idea transforms when placed in different circumstances.

2. Modernity: observing how a perceived occidental/oriental perspective of ‘modernity’ operated.

3. Geographical focus: focusing papers on Eastern Asian countries in particular and their relations with France and England, the perceived ‘West’ in the canonical conception of artistic and cultural modernity, and see how this worked in a dual construction rather than a singular one in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This is a two-day forum with multiple events including a keynote speech, research representations, roundtable discussion and a workshop. We hope to build connections among different groups and researchers, so audiences from other disciplines than the humanities who are interested in intercultural studies, modern-era studies, and Japanese studies are all welcome.

All events will be organised online via Zoom by the University of York. Welcome to join us from different time zones, and please notice that our programme is scheduled with British Summer Time (BET).

This conference is gratefully mentored by Prof. Michael White, the head of the Department of History of Art, and generously funded by the Humanities Research Centre (HRC) in the University of York.