ABSTRACT
In order to situate this present volume in its historical, theoretical, and historiographical context and highlight its key findings, this introduction explores the following four areas of focus. The first part provides a brief sketch of transnational relations between Germany and three East Asian countries (China, Japan, and Korea), from their diplomatic beginnings in the second half of the nineteenth century to the present. The second part explores the main elements of the book’s transnational framework. It rejects dichotomies between the East and the West, or between the colonizer and the colonized. It instead emphasizes entanglements, exchanges, interconnectedness, and border crossing. The third part highlights the historiographical landscape in German–East Asian relations. This review focuses on examining the edited volumes most similar to the present volume in their comprehensive scope and interdisciplinary approach. The last part presents the key findings of the chapters in this volume. They cover a rich variety of topics in history, politics, literature, the environment, urban planning, mission, migration, and sports. Through a careful examination of these topics, this volume contributes to a better understanding of German–East Asian relations.
