| Summary: | Films are shaped by the social and historical constellations within which, and for which, they are made. This thesis analyses the narrative and visual style of films of contemporary Japanese cinema (made from the late 1980s omvard) in relation to their social and historical context of production and reception. In particular, the thesis is concerned with the representation of minority groups in contemporary Japanese cinema and the relationship ofthis to more general trends in contemporary Japanese nationalism and multiculturalism. Although there have been studies ofthe relationship between Japanese films and Japanese nationalism in the 1930s. and 1940s, this issue has been relatively neglected in writing on contemporary Japanese cinema. However, given the changes in both Japanese society and Japanese cinema over the last twenty-five years, this is an issue that undoubtedly merits sustained critical attention.Just as the trend towards multiculturalism within Japan more generally may be seen to be multi-faceted, so the turn towards the representation of minorities within Japanese cinema cannot be regarded as straightforwardly 'progressive' but must be subject to critical examination. The purpose ofthis thesis, therefore, is to consider the ways in which 'millticultural' sentiments have emerged in contemporary Japanese cinema. In this respect, Japanese films may be seen not simply to have 'reflected' more general trends within Japanese society but to have played an active role in constructing and communicating different versions ofmulticulturalism. Accordingly, the thesis is particularly concerned with how representations of 'otherness' in contemporary Japanese cinema may be identified as reinforcing or subverting dominant discourses of 'Japaneseness'.
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