This article examines the impact and significance of Hokusai’s so-called The Great Wave in contemporary product promotion and design. Arguably Japan’s first global brand, this influential 19th-century woodcut has been widely adopted to style and advertise a wide range of merchandise, most of it neither manufactured in Japan nor primarily dependent on the commodification of the Japanese aesthetic or locale. Interpretation of the varied contexts in which the distinctive cresting wave appears challenges essentialising narratives that see the modern adoption of such traditional non-Western motifs as expressions of Japonisme or Orientalism. Taking an interdisciplinary approach that brings to bear design and global studies theory, Guth instead focuses on how this highly adaptive motif, with its connotations of being both nowhere and everywhere, serves to mediate between the local and the global.\udDespite the ubiquity of The Great Wave in the commercial realm, to date there have been no studies of its cross-cultural significance. To carry out this project, Guth conducted extensive research into the merchandise on offer in museum shops and online websites, and among global brands such as Patagonia that have made use of the motif. Guth also interviewed designers and users of the products to assess the rationale for the choice of this form of branding and the degree to which awareness of its origins influenced purchases. \udGuth was invited to present this new research on the global commercial impact of Hokusai’s The Great Wave at an international conference on ‘Hokusai in Context’ in Berlin in 2011. The conference paper and resulting published essay were developed to form a chapter in a book-length investigation into the global iconicity of Hokusai’s wave from its creation to the present day. The book, Hokusai’s Great Wave: Biography of a global icon, will be published by University of Hawai’i Press in 2014.
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机译:本文探讨了北斋所谓的“大浪潮”在当代产品促销和设计中的影响和意义。这种有影响力的19世纪木刻可以说是日本的第一个全球品牌,已被广泛采用来设计和宣传各种商品,其中大多数商品不是在日本制造的,也不主要依赖于日本美学或地区的商品化。解释独特的波峰出现在各种背景中的挑战给叙事带来了挑战,这些叙事将现代传统的非西方主题(如日本主义或东方主义的表达)应用于现代。古斯采取跨学科的方法来接受设计和全球研究理论,取而代之的是专注于这种高度适应性的主题及其无处不在的含义如何在本地与全球之间进行调解。\ ud尽管The普遍存在在商业领域中的大浪潮,迄今为止,尚未对其跨文化意义进行研究。为了执行该项目,Guth对博物馆商店和在线网站上的商品以及利用该主题的全球品牌(例如Patagonia)进行了广泛的研究。 Guth还采访了产品的设计师和用户,以评估选择这种品牌形式的理由以及对品牌起源的认知影响购买的程度。 \ udGuth受邀在2011年于柏林举行的有关“ Hokusai in Context”的国际会议上介绍了Hokusai的《大浪潮》对全球商业影响的这项新研究。会议论文和由此产生的论文被撰写成一本书的一章。对北斋浪潮从创建到现在的全球标志性的详尽研究。这本书《北斋的大浪潮:全球偶像传记》将于2014年由夏威夷大学出版社出版。
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