Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2022 November 22

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November 22

Identity of an anthology editor

I have just added a section, with query, to the Talk page of the article Michael ffolkes, which I repeat below in case anyone here wants a crack at it.

In the ISFDB (not, I agree, a Reliable source), Brian Davis / Michael Ffolkes (the latter thus spelled there) is identified as the Brian Davis who edited the science fiction reprint anthology The Old Masters (New English Library paperback original September 1970): its Preface is bylined G. B. Davis. The same individual (presumably) edited the collection The Best of Murray Leinster (Corgi paperback original December 1976, selection © G. B. Davis.) (I have copies of both books.)

I have seen no positive evidence that this Brian Davis actually was the same individual as the one also known as Michael ffolkes. It may (or may not) be significant that the NEL volume has b/w illustrations "specially drawn for this collection by Terry Diggins", which are not signed. (If this editor Davis was ffolkes, it would seem natural for him to have provided the illustrations: they are not suggestive to me of his usual style, but certainly within his capability if he wanted to conceal the connection and attribute them to "Diggins".)

Can anyone shed further light? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.217.47.60 (talk) 08:31, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

VIAF 206130040 and Works by Davis, Brian at WorldCat Identities, but we are getting a Davis, Brian Leigh from SUDOC 122651790 and no "G. B." fiveby(zero) 15:28, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

"Brian" is a fairly common given name, and "Davis" an even more common surname, so they were most likely just coincidental namesakes. I can find nothing connecting the first initial "G." to the cartoonist, and also nothing suggesting the latter might have had an interest in science fiction. Brian Davis / Michael ffolkes had, by his own admission, some opinions that were "outrageously right-wing". Does this sound like a possible characteristic of the G. B. Davis who penned the Introduction section of the British collection The Best of Murray Leinster?  --Lambiam 16:50, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

Not really, and I too suspect that the similarity of names is coincidental and ISFDB is wrong on this point. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.217.47.60 (talk) 17:12, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

Knowledge of outside during Japan's closure

During the era of Japanese history when the country was closed, how much did normal (non-governmental) people know about the outside world? סשס Grimmchild. He/him, probably 13:30, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

The policy is known as Sakoku. While the Wikipedia article doesn't discuss the effects of the policy on average Japanese people, perhaps knowing the term will help your research in areas outside of Wikipedia. --Jayron32 13:38, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for you helpful and very speedy reply! סשס Grimmchild. He/him, probably 13:39, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

Linked in that article is Rangaku, the study of Western knowledge, which the article says was published and widely disseminated amongst Japan's large urban population. Alansplodge (talk) 13:49, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

I see. Thanks for your help :) סשס Grimmchild. He/him, probably 13:53, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

Note that the topics disseminated excluded Western philosophical and political ideas.  --Lambiam 14:39, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

Sorry, but can you provide a source for this? The article on sakoku says the only thing censored was Christianity, which the shogunate perceived as threatening to its political control, and indeed conversion was punishable by death. (For some context, part of the reason was the fear that a large Christian community would provide a pretext for Western powers to intervene in the country with the stated goal of protecting Christians, something that indeed happened in places such as China and the Ottoman Empire.) --47.147.118.55 (talk) 04:03, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

They would also have some knowledge about Asia through Japanese Buddhism. A degree of Chinese language would be known by cultured people. Besides the Dutch-operated Dejima, Nagasaki was also the port of contact with China. --Error (talk) 17:44, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

They would have known the written Classical Chinese language. AnonMoos (talk) 22:06, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Sakoku was not "total isolation", as it is sometimes misinterpreted, but a system of controlling and regulating foreign commerce and migration implemented by the shogunate government. There was plenty of traffic with the outside world; it just had to be done through the authorized ports. Foreign texts were widely copied and disseminated. As was the case in most places before the Industrial Revolution, the circulation of written works was primarily among urban populations and particularly the elite. The majority of the population was smallholder farmers, many of whom would have had poor literacy and little access to printed works. --47.147.118.55 (talk) 04:03, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

See also Education in the Tokugawa era. Alansplodge (talk) 12:26, 24 November 2022 (UTC)