Reves Center for International Studies Events

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[PAST EVENT] Warrior Fantasies & The Meiji Restoration

November 16, 2017
5pm - 7pm
Location
James Blair Hall, Room 223
250 James Blair Dr
Williamsburg, VA 23185Map this location
Access & Features
  • Open to the public
Warrior Fantasies

Dr. Michael Wert of Marquette University presents a guest lecture.

Swordsmanship rose as a new field of knowledge during the early modern period, a time of relative peace. Although dominated by samurai practitioners in the seventeenth century, commoners participated in swordsmanship with greater frequency starting in the late eighteenth century. For samurai and elite commoners alike, swordsmanship became a vehicle for acting out the fantasy images of the ideal warrior at a time when the day-to-day reality of warriors was at its nadir. This talk explores swordsmanship as a lens for understanding society, status, and violence on the eve of Meiji Revolution.  

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