Japanese Racial Identities within U.S.-Japan Relations, 1853-1919

Tarik Merida

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2023

Japanese Racial Identities within U.S.-Japan Relations, 1853-1919

Tarik Merida

In the series Edinburgh East Asian Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781399506915

Overview
Contents

About this book

Considers: Did race really matter? Racial ideology and political pragmatism in U.S.-Japan relations

Breaks up the traditional dichotomic view of race relations
Employs a new and more functional theoretical approach to understand the negotiated quality of not only the Japanese racial identity, but also of racial identities in general
Firmly anchors Japanese history in a global framework
Introduces a wide array of new Japanese sources particularly on the topic of Japanese and African American relations

This book retraces the process through which, at the turn of the twentieth century, the Japanese went from a racial anomaly to honorary members of the White race. It explores the interpretation of the Japanese race by Western powers, particularly the United States, during Japan’s ascension as a great power between 1853 and 1919. Forced to cope with this new element in the Far East, Western nations such as the U.S. had to device a negotiation zone in which they could accommodate the Japanese and negotiate their racial identity. In this book, Tarik Merida, presents a new tool to study this process of negotiation: the Racial Middle Ground.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction: The Japanese Racial Anomaly Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: Race in the Japanese Context: Early Modern Patterns of Differentiation and the Introduction of Race in Modern Japan
Chapter 1 Patterns of Differentiation in Early Modern Japan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
Chapter 2 The Translation of Race in the Meiji Period Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
Part II: A Racial Middle Ground: Negotiating the Japanese Racial Identity in the Context of White Supremacy
Chapter 3 Between Two Races – The Birth of the Racial Middle Ground between Japan and the West Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
Chapter 4 Two Wars and First Successes: From the Port Arthur Massacre to the Treaty of Portsmouth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
Chapter 5 Further Successes and the Limits of the Racial Middle Ground – The California Crisis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
Chapter 6 African Americans and the Racial Middle Ground Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
Chapter 7 The End of the Racial Middle Ground Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	138
Conclusion: The Elusive Japanese Race Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	170
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 195
Keywords: Politics

eBook

Published: February 21, 2023
ISBN: 9781399506915