On the Relationships of Art and Erotic Culture
on the Basis of Japanese Shunga Cover Image

O powiązaniach sztuki i kultury erotycznej na przykładzie japońskich shunga
On the Relationships of Art and Erotic Culture on the Basis of Japanese Shunga

Author(s): Urszula Maja Krzyżanowska
Subject(s): Cultural history
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: shunga; ukiyo-e; art; the arts; eroticism; pornography; Japanese aesthetics

Summary/Abstract: The article examines relations between artistic creation and erotic culture on the example of Japan and tests the question if analysis of art may be used to reconstruct the understand-ing of different categories in a given culture. In the history of Japanese visual arts the word 'shunga' (春画) came into existence; it can be translated as 'spring images'. The word ‘spring’ is a euphemism for sexual activities and 'shunga' can be understood as Japanese erotic art. This article shows why 'spring images' are not only the works of art, but also an illustration of Japanese – not only erotic – culture.

  • Issue Year: 2014
  • Issue No: 09
  • Page Range: 23-41
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish