The character of nations was a prominent topic in 18th century intellectual debate, searching for criteria that could explain the great diversity of customs, institutions, religions and cultures of the world's peoples. Within the framework of the opposition between Europe and Asia – newly theorised by Montesquieu -, Japan constitutes a particularly interesting case, since a traditional representation that emphasised the radical otherness of the Japanese character was flanked by others that instead highlighted similarities and analogies, opening up suggestive comparative perspectives. The essay highlights some moments of this debate, by focusing on a few examples from the French culture of the Age of Enlightenment.
University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-0227-7815
Chapter Title
Rappresentazioni del «carattere» dei Giapponesi nella cultura francese settecentesca
Authors
Rolando Minuti
Language
Italian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0422-4.32
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Il dono dell’airone
Book Subtitle
Scritti in onore di Ikuko Sagiyama
Editors
Luca Capponcelli, Diego Cucinelli, Chiara Ghidini, Matilde Mastrangelo, Rolando Minuti
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
390
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0422-4
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0421-7
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0422-4
Series Title
Connessioni. Studies in Transcultural History
Series ISSN
2975-0393
Series E-ISSN
2975-0261