Little Italy, Big Japan: Patterns of Continuity and Displacement among Italian Writers in Japan

Chapter 3 fast forwards to the post-war years and the period of reconstruction, which featured rapid economic growth in both Italy and Japan. The chapter considers the writings of Fosco Maraini, Goffredo Parise, Alberto Moravia and Italo Calvino through the ideological framework of continuity and change that was widely debated in Japan at the time of its rapid modernization. The chapter main argument is that the perceived Japanese model of societal evolution, based on a relation of continuity with the country’s past and tradition, played a central role in the writing of Italians traveling to Japan in this period by virtue of generating a contrast with the Italian model of evolution, which was predicated upon rupture and displacement. The conclusion of the chapter advances the hypothesis of a neo-exotic wave of interest toward Japan, predicated upon post-Marxist intellectuals’ quest for areas of the world that (unlike Europe) had not yet fallen under the ideological and cultural dominion of the Cold War’s bipolar order.

Cosmopolitan Possibilities in Translation: Views from the Russo-Japanese War

Chapter 1 considers three texts revolving around the events of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, first examining the diary/novel of Italian-born Daniele Pecorini, who travelled in Korea and Japan as British Commissioner of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service, before turning to a compilation of Luigi Barzini Sr.’s dispatches from Manchuria and Tokyo written for Corriere della Sera, Italy’s premier newspaper. Finally, a third section of this chapter delves into the travel account by the “Baronessa di Villaurea,” who visited Japan after the end of the hostilities. The reading of the baronessa’s travelogue introduces the perspective of gender and social class to the chapter.

Postscript

The “Postscript” outlines the history of Japanese institutions created in Italy in the years following the Italian unification to make the case for the need to account for this Japanese fascination in the context of Italian history. The foundation of these institutions points in the direction of a lesser known historical trajectory that modern Italy had been pursuing since its foundation. The Postscript suggests that while the colonial enterprise was moving the geopolitical interests of the country toward the African continent, a parallel non-violent movement of diplomatic, cultural and commercial exchanges took place with Japan, reaching its peak during the period of the Axis Alliance. A possible explanation of why the notion of these two countries as international partners seems almost counterintuitive today is identified in the post-war period of ‘Pax Americana,’ which removed the material evidence of this alliance. Yet, the chapter ends by noticing a positive overarching approach toward Japan that resisted historical change.

Mussolini in Japan: Japanese Representations in the Age of Fascism

In chapter 2, the focus is on travel literature on Japan during the Fascist period, with specific attention to the shift in the mode of representing Japan before and after the Anti-Comintern Pact between Italy, Germany and Japan of November 6, 1937. This historical event is the watershed moment that serves to separate the chapter in two sections. Before the ratification of the anti-communist pact, a nationalistic approach informed by a sense of Italian cultural supremacy defined the attitude of Italians writers who landed in the East Asian country. The chapter’s second half traces Mussolini’s attempts to reshape the image of Japan in Italian public opinion. Beyond the propaganda, the chapter calls for a more nuanced assessment of this literary production. One example is offered by Pietro Silvio Rivetta, who seized the opportunity presented by the military alliance to reinforce his longstanding cultural project of introducing Japanese culture to Italy. Another example, is suggested by the case of Arundel Del Re, whose life spent across countries and continents exposed him to the pitfalls of his cosmopolitan identity, but also generated in him a sense of belonging, from East to West, that transcend the limits posed by national borders.

Madama Butterfly Revised

Chapter 4 introduces a view of the journey in Japan from a female perspective. The few examples of Italian women writers in Japan are concentrated in the second half of the 20th century, in particular during the 1980s, with the increasing transformation of women’s roles in both societies. As travel was traditionally conceived of as a male privilege and dominated by his mode of narration, the chapter argues that the women’s travelogues to Japan bring (although not always) a fresh perspective and an alternative look at Japanese society, with particular regard to the image of women. This chapter builds on the reactions that Italian women travelers experienced when observing a similar process of change in gender power relations in Japan. By contrasting Eurocentric views (Angela Staude) with cosmopolitan approaches (Antonietta Pastore), this chapters shows the shortcomings of a gender theory that poses essentializing differences between men and womens’ travel narratives, while at the same time recognizes in the woman traveler a ‘potential’ ability to detect and, therefore, sanction inequalities and discriminations.

Introduction: Searching for Japan

The introduction explains the books’ methodological foundation in transnational theory. It defines key-terms such as “Transnationalism,” “relational Orientalism,” “coeval exoticism” and “cosmopolitan aspirations.” It provides an historical outline of the relations between Italy and Japan before and after the watershed period of the Meiji era (1866) and the Italian unification (1861). This historical section suggests that Italian fascination with Japan largely depended on the fact that Japan shared with Italy the condition of being a ‘latecomer’ in the world stage. The introduction also offers a summary of each chapter and explains the advantage of using travel narratives as source to uncover unstable conceptions of ‘nation’ and ‘identity.’