What is Japonisme? terminology and interpretation

This paper attempts to define what the term ‘Japonisme’ means by examining its historical development. Gabriel Weisberg has defined it as ‘taste for things Japanese’ and that was how it was used during the second half of the 19th century in France together with other terms such as Japonaiserie or Japonnerie. Then during the 1960s and 70s some art historians gave the term a new meaning of artistic absorption of formal elements of Japanese art without specific reference to Japanese motifs. Then they interpreted such Japonisme as superior to superficial inclusion of Japanese motifs, which they called Japonaiserie, and argued that this Japonaiserie always happens before Japonisme. Already in 1991 I have argued that this interpretation cannot be sustained, though this erroneous notion still lives on even now. I should also like to further this debate by discussing the term ‘Japanism’ to differentiate it from that of ‘Japonisme’.

A version of this paper was published in 2012. For more information, please see: http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/6041