Abstract:
In the writing on men and masculinities there is a pervasive sense that the essence of masculinity has somehow been lost. While often attributed to the angst-ridden exaggerations of privileged white men, the notion that masculinity has become synonymous with loss is a global theme and this perceived loss has contributed to the ubiquitous sense that masculinity is, or has always been, in crisis. For American and Japanese men the loss of an ideal masculinity is invariably connected to the loss of the cowboy and samurai as replicable and dependable archetypes of masculinity. I have responded to the crisis of masculinity as a social and cultural phenomenon. It is experienced and responded to by men and women, and it is reflected in and developed through the narratives of cultural artefacts such as film. Through close analysis of film texts informed by interdisciplinary research I argue that the crisis of masculinity experienced by American and Japanese men is informed by the complex and precarious bilateral relationship between the United States and Japan that finds an acute expression in the interactions between cowboys and samurai on screen after World War II. I focus on cinematic cowboys and samurai in particular because of the unique position both archetypes hold in the history of the bilateral exchange between the U.S. and Japan, and also because of their centrality to the national cinemas that participated in this exchange.
