"자유의 느낌: 필리핀 해방에 대한 일본과 미국 전쟁영화, 1943-45"
다카시 후지타니 교수, 토론토 대학교 역사학과
6월 28일(수) 3-5시, 신양관(4동) 302호

ALC Invited Lecture
"THE FEELING OF FREEDOM: JAPANESE AND AMERICAN WARTIME FILMS ON THE LIBERATION OF THE PHILIPPINES, 1943-45"
Prof. Takashi Fujitani, Department of History, University of Toronto.
June 28 (Wed) 3-5 PM, Shinyang Humanities Hall (Bldg. no. 4), room 302.

ABSTRACT
This presentation analyzes Japanese and American filmic representations of the liberation of the Philippines during World War II in the Asia-Pacific. The author argues that while the occupations of both these militarized empires disavowed colonialism and came in the name of freedom and self-determination for all peoples, they were very similar attempts to establish a new and postcolonial form of empire that depended upon producing the  feeling that their empires enabled freedom and equality. The talk further explores how the American and Japanese films mobilized the tropes of choice, death, romance and race to produce images of their empires as spaces of freedom and equality.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY
Takashi Fujitani is Professor of History at the University of Toronto where he is also the Dr. David Chu Professor in Asia-Pacific Studies. His major works include:  Splendid Monarchy (UC Press, 1996); Race for Empire: Koreans as Japanese and Japanese as Americans in WWII (UC Press, 2011) and Perilous Memories: The Asia Pacific War(s) (co-edited, Duke U. Press, 2001). He is also editor of the series Asia Pacific Modern (UC Press). He is currently working on three major projects with the tentative titles:  Cold War Clint: Asia and the World of an American Icon; Whose ‘Good War’?: The Asia Pacific War(s); The Sovereign Remains: Essays on the Japanese Monarchy and Questions of Sovereignty.