The Significance of Woodblock Prints and Other Forms of Propaganda in a Hypothetical East Asian Imperialism Museum

This essay was written as part of a class project concerning a theoretical “Museum of East Asian Imperialism,” in which artifacts were proposed, contextualized, and curated. The proposed artifact therein is Our Army’s Great Victory at the Night Battle of Pyongyang, a Japanese woodblock print from the imperial era, whose impact is discussed with regards to its ability to bring together propagandistic zeal in a brutal yet popular imperialist narrative, history and its interpretations, and art with all its perils. The essay discusses imperialist themes with reference to their origins in the British imperial project in China. It then digs into the 2006 MIT controversy surrounding the upload of several woodblock prints and subsequent episodes of harassment and outcries accusing professors of espousing violent and racist imagery. The essay also draws upon the resulting lessons of the involved academics to inform the method of curation. Finally, the essay draws a line between the propaganda of imperial Japan—some of that aimed at children—and propaganda today, namely in the form of a children’s manga, Neo Gōmanism Manifesto Special, and especially the unseen forms of propaganda lurking behind neo-imperialist narratives. The essay proposes a Two Kobayashis exhibit displaying the above two works, which aims to inform and to provoke questions about the nature of propaganda and the viewer’s role in its consumption. It is in the drawing of parallels and attempts to move past simply critically analyzing propaganda that the essay attempts to contribute a new perspective and line of thinking.