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Beyond Dejima: Dutch and Swedish Perspectives on Japan During the Enlightenment
Hybrid workshop – all welcome
- Date: 2025-08-01 (Friday), 15:00 – 19:00 JST (08:00 – 12:00 CET)
- Location on-site: 1st floor of Buncomo (ぶんこも1階), Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University
- Zoom link
- Short description of the event:
- This workshop explores how European Enlightenment thinkers understood Japan through the unique lens of Dutch and Swedish observers during the Edo period. Featuring presentations on two new and forthcoming projects incorporating Isaac Titsingh (Maria Florutau – University of Kyoto/University of Cambridge) and Carl Peter Thunberg (Linda Andersson Burnett – Uppsala University), we move beyond the well-known Dutch trading post at Dejima to uncover how these Nordic perspectives shaped European intellectual discourse about Japanese society, culture, and nature. Participants will discover how cross-cultural encounters during this pivotal period influenced both European philosophy and early modern understandings of Japan. Prof. Tim Screech (Nichibunken), who has previously translated works by both Titsingh and Thunberg, will deliver a keynote speech and respond to these new research projects.
- Timetable:
- 15:00 – 15:05 opening remarks (Genji Yasuhira)
- 15:05 – 16:05 Tim Screech, ‘Carl Peter Thunberg, Isaac Titsingh and the Process of Change in Late 18th Century Japan’
- 16:05 – 16:15 break
- 16:15 – 16:45 Linda Andersson Burnett, ‘Letters from the Edge of the World: Carl Peter Thunberg’s Correspondence During His Global Voyages’
- 16:45 – 17:45 Maria Florutau, ‘The Scholar-Merchant: Isaac Titsingh’s Contributions to Batavian Society’s Understanding of Japanese Civilization’
- 17:45 – 17:55 break
- 17:55 – 18:15 Q&A
- 18:15 – 18:55 roundtable discussion
- 18:55 – 19:00 closing remarks (Maria Florutau)
- Contact: Maria Florutau (maria.florutau[at]idehist.uu.se); Genji Yasuhira (yasuhira.genji.5y[at]kyoto-u.ac.jp)
