Indigenous People and Women as the Other:

The Style of Colonial Representations in Manchuria Graph

Abstract

 This paper analyzes the relationship among the representations of indigenous people and women in the graphic magazine Manchuria Graph, published from the 1930s to 40s, and the political background of Manchukuo as a colony. I argued that Manchuria Graph that had been criticized as inappropriate artistry for the wartime pursuits was, in fact, mutually dependent on Japanese colonialism. Manchuria Graph is appropriate for the research on photographers of Art Photography and New Photography schools of the 1930s mainland Japan who were mobilized for propaganda during the wartime.
 Researchers have discussed the artistic and political aspects of Manchuria Graph separately. In contrast, I examine the tension between the artistry of Manchuria Graph and the colonial ideology of Manchukuo. A previous study has shown that Manchuria Graph was intentionally produced as the modernist work of Art Photography in opposition to the dominant Reportage Photography of mainland Japan. However, its images were filled with the artistry of resistance supported by the transnational network of imperial Japan and in return worked to keep and reinforce that network.