Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• SHIN, MINA

Titel

Making a Samurai Western: Japan and the White Samurai Fantasy in The Last Samurai

Ist Teil von

• Journal of popular culture, 2010-10, Vol.43 (5), p.1065-1080

Ort / Verlag

Malden, USA: Blackwell Publishing Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2010

Quelle

Wiley Online Library All Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Whether or not samurai genre actually has to do with Japanese militarism that directed to World War II, what seems more critical to me is that in the contemporary world, Hollywood has made films and television series that highly glorify samurai soldiers and feudal militarism through the eyes of white samurai characters. The Last Samurai is a particularly interesting film given its popularity both in the United States and Japan, and its infusion of Western and samurai genres, both of which are considered the most national genres of each country. Here, Shin examines the politics of glorification and romanticization of a samurai in The Last Samurai by looking at the way the film revives the Western mythology by infusing it with a samurai genre.