ONLINE COURSE: «HISTORY OF POST-WAR JAPAN THROUGH ITS CINEMA»

After its defeat in World War II, many Japanese were ordered to promote to their society the democratic values that would prevent Japan from succumbing to fascism again. Cinema was the art of the masses par excellence in post-war Japan, and as such, it allowed directors to disseminate their message to broad layers of society and intervene from an unbeatable position in the process of democratization of the Japanese.

In this course, we will immerse ourselves in the history of post-war Japan through a journey with the works of a group of directors who were representative of the time, observing how through the cinema they tried to generate a democratic and modernizing consciousness in the Japanese. Each session will focus on a director, presenting his biography and historical context first, and then discussing his cinema around a representative film.

Program:

• 1^st Session: Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
• 2^nd Session: Kenji Mizoguchi (1898-1956)
• 3^rd Session: Keisuke Kinoshita (1912-1998)
• 4^th Session: Yasuzo Masumura (1924-1986)
• 5^th Session: Masaki Kobayashi (1916-1996)
• 6^th Session: Hiroshi Teshigahara (1927-2001)
• 7^th Session: Nagisa Oshima (1932-2013)
• 8^th Session: Shinsuke Ogawa (1935-1992)
• 9^th Session: Yoshishige Yoshida (1933-)
• 10^th Session: Shuji Terayama (1935-1983)

Professor:

Ferran de Vargas has a doctorate in Translation and Intercultural Studies, specialized in Japanese history and cinema, and is currently collaborating in the research group GREGAL: Japan-Korea-Catalonia / Spain Cultural Circulation. He is the author of the book Izquierda y revolución. Una historia política del Japón de posguerra (1945-1972) (2020, Edicions Bellaterra).