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- Convenors:
-
Larisa Usmanova
(Russian State University for Humanities)
Angelina Nechaeva
Olga Khomenko (Nissan Institute, University of Oxford)
Petr Podalko (Aoyama Gakuin University)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Section:
- History
- Location:
- Lokaal 1.12
- Sessions:
- Sunday 20 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Brussels
Short Abstract:
After the occupation of Manchuria, the Japanese government promoted ideology used the term "kyowa" (" harmonious community") wishing to make a perfect society where Asian and European nationalities coexist perfectly to create a new nation of the Manchurian Empire with a common ideology and culture.
Long Abstract:
After the occupation of Manchuria, the Japanese government promoted the ideals of "gozoku kyowa" (五 族 協和), the harmonious coexistence of a commonwealth of five nations, namely the Chinese, Manchurians, Mongols, Japanese and Koreans. However, in Manchuria, mainly in Harbin, also lived other nationalities: Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, and others. Moreover, when it came to them, the Japanese official ideology used the term "kyowa" (" harmonious community"). During this panel on the cases of Russian, Ukrainian, and Tatars communities in Manchuria, we will explore the hidden economic, social, and cultural backstage reality of such ideological slogans.
On this panel four presentations describe an image of life and activity of Russian and non-Russian (Ukrainian and Turk-Tatar) emigrant communities in Manchuria. Each community tried to build its own special relationship with the Japanese administration. This was due to the need to maintain their economical and social position in new State. Unfortunately broadly promoted slogans "Racial Harmony (minzoku kyowa)" and "Harmony of the Five Races (gozoku kyowa)" society in practice was not working for the Russian emigrants, and many of them need to move away. Non-Russian peoples, such as Ukrainians and Tatars, tried to create a "imaginary" Ukraine and "Volga-Ural", hoping for support from the Japanese.For its part, Japanese propaganda use the Russian emigrants in films to create an image of the happy domestic life of the Russian community in Manchuria.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Sunday 20 August, 2023, -Larisa Usmanova (Russian State University for Humanities)
Paper short abstract:
This presentation looks at the history and experience of the Turk-Tatar emigrant diaspora in Manchuria as a historical tragedy and as a mushroom network that unites enemy states and partner states in the global space of culture and civil society to survive one local (Tatar) culture.
Paper long abstract:
The experience of the historical residence of the Turk-Tatar diaspora on the territory of the Japanese and Russian Empires, and then Soviet Russia, and in the post-war period in the democratic countries of the West, such as the United States, Australia, Turkey, shows an example of a network society of national communities that connect the multi-national civil society of various national states and empires of the 20th century. Cultures and ideas are exchange through these migrant groups. The meeting of two very distant cultures, Islamic and Japanese, through the interaction of nationalists of both cultures in the name of Pan-Asianism, is unique for modern history. This cultural and intellectual exchange carried out mainly in Manchuria and in Japan.
This presentation explores the history of mutual influence of a migrant culture that felt that it had a historical and cultural mission and imperial nation through exchanging ideas at the territory of Manchukuo.
Angelina Nechaeva
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines the actual economic and social condition of White Russians comparing to other ethnic groups in Manchukuo society, especially to Japanese and Manchurians/Chinese .
Paper long abstract:
The positioning of White Russians in Manchukuo society is an important topic, especially taking into account that they were announced as “citizens” of a New State. This paper examines the actual economic and social condition of White Russians comparing to other ethnic groups in Manchukuo society, especially to Japanese and Manchurians/Chinese . The author will present the differences between public propaganda for White Russians and reality which they had experienced in Manchukuo. It is hoped this article will show what kind of “Racial Harmony (minzoku kyowa)” and “Harmony of the Five Races (gozoku kyowa)” society were created in the New State in case of minority group such as White Russians. There are a lot of researches about White Russians in Manchukuo. And still these researches left few unsolved problems, which were analyzed in this paper. Such as, 1) the “exact” function of BREM (Bureau of Russian Émigré Affairs in Manchukuo) not for the Russian emigrants, but for the New State. 2) the “exact” place and the role of BREM in the administrative system of Manchukuo before 1943, when it became “the assistant organization” of the government of the New State system. 3) the “exact” place of Russian emigrants in Manchukuo society as long as Russians were pronounced in Russian language as “the 5th nation” of a New State. To answer these questions author carefully has been analyzed the documents of BREM and Russian newspapers published in Manchukuo those days, and Manchukuo government documents, of cause. The author tries to analyse the reason why the social policy of “Racial Harmony” and “Harmony of the Five Races” of Manchukuo towards White Russians gone wrong way.
Olga Khomenko (Nissan Institute, University of Oxford)
Paper short abstract:
This presentation is telling a story about forgotten Ukrainian journalist and editor Ivan Svit and his efforts toward constructing "imagined Ukraine" in occupied Manchuria.
Paper long abstract:
This presentation examines the history of Ukrainian emigration in Manchuria on the example of the life and intellectual works of Ivan Svit, a Ukrainian journalist and historian. After the Russian revolution in 1918, he moved to the Far East and then emigrated to Harbin in 1922, where he lived till 1941.
Ukrainians have been a stateless minority, first under the strong ideology of Russian monarchism and then under the Japanese ideology of the "peaceful co-existence of five different nations" in Manchuria. With the advent of the Japanese occupation, between 1932-1937, Svit published a newspaper called "The Manchurian Herald," representing the interests of minorities, Ukrainians, and other national communities. Then between 1937-1944, he wrote a book on the history of Ukrainian national movements in Asia, made a radio program, and published a unique map of the Ukrainian presence in the Far East and the first Ukrainian-Japanese dictionary.
By publishing a newspaper, maps, dictionary, making radio programs, and writing a book, Svit constructed a public space of imagining Ukraine in Asia and re-established himself as a different social class of intelligentsia. By articulating Ukrainian interests in Asia and not assimilating or diffusing into a dominant host structure, he actively shaped a transnational network by using his adjustive leadership. When Ukraine did not have a political state using his journalistic and communication skills, he created "imaginary Ukraine" miles away from the Ukrainian mainland in Asia.
Petr Podalko (Aoyama Gakuin University)
Paper short abstract:
This report explores the Japanese imperial movies concerning Russian emigrants' life and domesticity in Manchuria. The "Russians" in this film are not episodic, but the main characters. We explore how Japanese propaganda was using Russian emigrants to create an image of the happy life in Manchuria.
Paper long abstract:
This presentation explores Japanese imperial films made during WWII concerning Russian emigrants' everyday life and domesticity in Manchuria and Japan. The critical point is that "Russians" in all these films are not episodic but the main characters.
In this presentation, we focus on representing the "females' characters" in the film called "My Nightingale," made by the Man'ei film studio in 1942. "My Nightingale" ("Watashi-no-uguisu"), being de facto the first Japanese film musical, was considered lost for many years and remains unknown to the general public.
The leading roles in this film are played not by actors but by ordinary members of the Russian emigration community living in Manchuria: former officers of the Russian imperial army and women with an aristocratic background. Also, the leading Japanese character played by "the star of the era" of Manchu cinema, Yamaguchi Yoshiko, was somehow impacted by Russian culture. She is not only speaking but also sings romances exclusively in Russian throughout the entire film.
In this presentation, we explore how Japanese propaganda was using Russian emigrants to create an image of the happy domestic life of the Russian community in Manchuria.