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Dr Marcos Centeno

Positions held:
  • Lecturer in Japanese Studies, Department of Cultures & Languages
  • Japanese Programme Director, Department of Cultures & Languages
  • Year Abraod Coordinator (Japan), Department of Cultures & Languages
Address

Room 118, 39-47 Gordon Square

  • Overview

    Overview

    Biography

    Marcos Centeno is lecturer in Japanese Studies and director of the Japanese programme at Birkbeck. His latest research project "Japanese Transnational Cinema" was funded by several institutions including Sasakawa and Daiwa foundations, Waseda and the Japanese ministry of education and included several publications and events in London and Tokyo.

    He also worked as a lecturer for the Department of Japan and Korea at SOAS, where he also convened the MA Global Cinemas and the Transcultural. Also, he was Research and Teaching Fellow at University of Valencia and Research Associate at Waseda University, as well as visiting researcher at Ochanomizu University, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3 and Goethe Universität Frankfurt.

    Before that, dr. Centeno studied at Universitat de València, Spain, where he received the School´s Extraordinary Award and in Japan, with a Waseda University scholarship. After graduation, he worked in television for several years where he was promoted to director at a young age. His full-length documentary film, Ainu. Pathways to Memory (2014) which revolves around the problems of representation of Ainu culture in Japan was translated into several languages (English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian) and received several prizes by international film festivals and other institutions.

    Administrative responsibilities

    • Japanese Programme Director
    • Study Abroad Coordinator (Japan)
    • Departmental Languages Committee Member
    • Japanese language Coordinator
    • Personal Tutor for Japanese Year 1 and Year 4 students
    • Equalities Committee Member. Dept of Cultures and Languages Rep.
    • Birkbeck Anniversary Committee. Dept Cultures and Languages Rep.
    • Athena SWAN School of Arts Self-Assessment Team.member.

    Visiting posts

    • Visiting Scholar, Ochanomizu University, 07-2019 to 09-2019
    • Visiting Researcher, Universität Frankfurt am Main, Germany, , 04-2010 to 05-2010
    • Visiting Researcher, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris III, France, 01-2010 to 03-2010
    • Associate Fellow. , Waseda University, Tokyo, 09-2010 to 09-2012

    Professional activities

    -Referee for the following peer-reviewed journals and publishers: Open Screens. BAFTSS (British Association of Film , Television and Screen Studies) Journal; Comillas Journal of International Relations; Positions. Asia Critique; Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance (JAFP); Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema; MIRAI, Japanese Studies Journal; Studies in Documentary Film Journal; Archivos de la Filmoteca; KOME. An International Journal of Pure Communication Inquir ; Arts Journal. lMDPI publication; Bloomsbury Publications; KronoScope Journal for the Study of Time; Pensamiento al Margen. Online journal; Communication and Society.

    -Jury member for the Ivan Morris Memorial Prize on Japanese Studies (British Association for Japanese Studies).

    -2020 AEJE (Asociación Estudios Japoneses en España) Conference. Scientific Board Member.

    -Watersprite: The Cambridge International Student Film Festival. Jury member. 2017 and 2020.

    -DAAD. German Academic Exchange Service. Referee for Research Fellowship applications. 

    -Convenor for the “Visual Arts” Section of 2020 EAJS (European Association for Japanese Studies) Conference.

    - 2018 AEJE Conference, Centro de Estudios Asia Oriental), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Scientific Board Member. 

    Honours and awards

    • "Japanese Transnational Cinema" Project, Daiwa Foundation Grant Ref: 197/13307, November 2019
    • "Japanese Transnational Cinema" Project, Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Grant Ref. No. 5558., November 2019
    • "Japanese Transnational Cinema" Project, Waseda- MEXT's Top Global University Project Fund. with Prof. Norimasa Morita, November 2019
    • "Japanese Transnational Cinema" Project, Strategic Research Funding, Birkbeck, November 2019
    • Research Funding, Waseda University, November 2011
    • Doctoral Fellowship. V Segles Programme. 4 Years, Universitat de València, November 2009
    • Waseda University Scholarship. , Waseda University , November 2005
  • Research

    Research

    Research interests

    • Japanese Cinema
    • Documentary Film and Non-Fiction Formats
    • Transnationality
    • Representation of Minorities
    • Archaeology of Images
    • Avant-garde

    Research overview

    I am interested in Japanese Cinema particularly non-fiction formats, Hani Susumu, film theory, transnationality, postwar avant-garde and representation of minorities.

    Research Centres and Institutes

    • Steering Committee Member, Birkbeck Institute of the Moving Image (BIMI)
    • Member, Centre for Multilingual and Multicultural Research

    Research projects

    Japanese Transnational Cinema.

    Abstract

    PI: Marcos Centeno. Sponsored by Daiwa Foundation (Ref. 197/13307), Sasakawa Foundation (Ref. No. 5558), Birkbeck Research Committee Strategic Funds and Waseda- MEXT's Top Global University Project Fund (in collaboration with Prof Nori Morita).

    Funded by
    Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
    Outcomes

    Special Issue: Centeno, Marcos and Morita, Nori  eds “Japanese Transnational Cinema”, Arts, 2019.

    Book: Centeno, Marcos and Morita, Nori, eds, Japan beyond its borders: Transnational Approaches to Film and Media, Tokyo: Seibunsha, 2020

    Articles and book chapters (6):

    -Centeno Marcos and Morita Nori. “Theorising Transnational Japanese Film and Media”. In Centeno Marcos and Morita Nori (eds.) Japan beyond its borders: Transnational Approaches to Film and Media, Tokyo: Seibunsha, 2020, pp. 1-15.

     -Centeno Marcos. 2020. “From Japan to Africa: Transnationality in Hani Susumu’s Theory and Cinematic Experience”. In Centeno Marcos and Morita Nori (eds.) Japan beyond its borders: Transnational approaches to Film and Media, Tokyo: Seibunsha, 2020, pp. 113-126

     -Centeno, Marcos and Raine, Michael, "Editorial Paper. Developments in Japanese Documentary Mode", Special Issue Developments in Japanese Documentary Mode, Arts, 9 (3), 2020

    -Centeno, Marcos. 2019. “Legacies of Hani Susumu’s Documentary School”. In Centeno, Marcos and Raine, Michael (eds.), Special Issue "Developments Japanese Documentary Film", Arts 8(3), 82. 

     -Centeno Marcos and Morita Nori. “Editorial Paper. Japan and the ‘Transnational Cinema’, Special Issue Japanese Transnational Cinema, Arts, 7(4), 87 (due to 2020)

     - Centeno, Marcos. 2019.  “The Misleading Discovery of Japanese ‘National Cinema.” In Centeno, Marcos and Morita, Nori (eds.), Special Issue "Japanese Transnational Cinema", Arts, 7(4), 87, pp. 7-20

    Event organisation:   

     -Japanese Transnational Cinema Seminar for the Birkbeck Arts Week at Birkbeck, London 23-24th May 2020. 

     -Japanese Transnational Cinema, symposium at Waseda University in Tokyo, 20th -23rd July 2020. Website:

    Presentations

    -Centeno, Marcos. Cross-cultural Seminar Series (Tabunka Kenkyū Seminā), at Sugiyama Jogakuen University, Nagoya 17th July 2019.

     -“Japanese Transnational Cinema: Consuming Japanese Culture through Japanese Cinema”, Summer Programme, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, 27th July – 9th August 2019.

    REPERCRI. Contemporary Representations of Perpetrators of Mass Crimes

    Abstract

    REPERCRI. Contemporary Representations of Perpetrators of Mass Crimes. University of Valencia. Collaborator. PIs: Dr. Anacleto Ferrer, Dr. Vicente Sánchez-Biosca

    Outcomes

    -Centeno, Marcos. “Vacíos de la bomba atómica. El Memorial por la Paz de Hiroshima como lugar de ritual”, en special issue Lugares de Memoria, Pasajes: Revista de pensamiento contemporáneo , 2021 (forthcoming)

    GREGAL: Cultural Circulation Japan-Korea-Catalonia

    Abstract

    GREGAL: Cultural Circulation Japan-Korea-Catalonia. Catalan I+D (R&D) Project. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. SGR 2017 – 2019. PI: Dr. Blai Guarné.

    Outcomes

    Publications

    - Centeno, Marcos. 2020.  Rediting the War in Asia. Japanese Newsreels in Spain (1931-1945), in Special Issue “El Impacto del Audiovisual Japonés y Surcoreano Contemporáneo”, L´Atalante. Revista de Estudios Cinematográficos no.29, pp. 101-119 .

    -Conference Presentations:

    -“Barcelona Landscapes in the Japanese avant-garde documentary: Antonio Gaudi (HiroshiTeshigahara, 1984)”,  XIII AEJE Conference, UAM, Madrid, 21-23 Nov 2018

    - “The Pacific War in the Spanish Newsreel”, AEEAO International Conference, Málaga, 20-22 June 2018.

    GEINTEA (Europe-Asia Interactions Research Group)

    Abstract

    Spanish I+D (R&D) Project: GEINTEA (Europe-Asia Interactions Research Group), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). PI: Dr. Florentino Rodao.

    Outcomes

    -Centeno, Marcos. Digital content, co-taught course: “East Asian Cultural History. Interactions between Europe and Japan”. 10 hours. Term 3 (Innova Docentia Projec funded by UCM).

    -Conference Presentations:

    -“Transnational Circulation of Images on the Pacific War”, XIV Association of Contemporary History Conference, Alicante 21 Sept 2018.

    -“Comunicación visual de conflictos: la circulación y permutación global de las imágenes de la Guerra del Pacífico”, Congreso Internacional Comunicación, conflictos y cambio social, UJI, Castellón, 19 Dec 2017.

    - “Migration of Images of the Pacific War (1941-1945): Re-readings of the Japanese Empire through Spanish Newsreels”, IAAS. Irish Association for Japanese Studies Annual Conference: Asia: Transcultural Interactions. Past, Present and Future, University College Cork, 10 June 2017

    -“From Allies to Enemies: The Pacific War seen through the Eyes of Francoist Spain (1939-1945)”, When East Meets West: The Second World War in Global Perspective Conference, King’s College, London, 22-23 June 2017

     -Publications:

    - “Del Viaje del Turista Al Viaje del Héroe. Mímesis Cinematográfica del Discurso Turístico Japonés Sobre España. El Caso de Andarushia (2011) (‘From a Tourist Journey to a Hero Journey. Film Mimesis in the Tourist Japanese Discourse on Spain: the Case of Andalushia)’, MIRAI Estudios Japoneses, nº1, 2017, pp. 89-107.

    -“Migration of Images of the Pacific War (1941-1945): Re-readings of the Japanese Empire through Spanish Newsreels”, Irish Journal of Asian Studies (IJAS), vol. 3, 2017, pp. 1-13.

    -“Comunicación visual de conflictos. La masacre de Nankín” (“Visual Communication of Conflicts. The Nanking Massacre”). Comunicación y Cambio Social. Sao Paulo: Universidad Estadual Paulista de Brasil UNESP (accepted on 15.03.2018)

    DFG Project: Yasujirō Ozu and the Western Film

    Abstract

    DFG Project. German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft): Projekts Yasujirô Ozu und der westliche Film (Yasujirō Ozu and the Western Film), Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. PI. Andreas Becker.

     

    Outcomes

    -Conference Presentations:

    - “Method directors. Some notes on Susumu Hani and Yasujirō Ozu’s filmmaking”, Yasujirô Ozu and the Aesthetics of his Time, Institute for Theater, Film and Media Studies, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, 29.-30. January 2016

     -Publications:

    -“Method Directors. Susumu Hani and Yasujirō Ozu: a Comparative Approach across Paradigms” in Andreas Becker (ed.). Yasujirô Ozu and the Aesthetics of his Time, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt and Darmstadt: Büchner-Verlag, 2018, pp.125-152.

    I+D Project: Media Construction of Charisma in Political Leaders in Periods of Social Transformation

    Abstract

    I+D (R&D) Project, Spanish Ministry of Education (HAR2012-32593), EU-Merimée Project (29881UE) and French Ministry of Education-CRIMIC (EA 2561 Arts visuels): Media Construction of Charisma in Political Leaders in Periods of Social Transformation. Universitat de València. PI: Dr. Vicente Sánchez-Biosca.

    Outcomes

    Events organisation:

    - Roundtable “Carisma e imagen política. Poderes y contrapoderes del franquismo tardío a la transición democrática”, Casa de Velázquez de Madrid and Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 12- 13 June 2014. 

     - Seminar I+D  Carisma y Transición , Universitat de València, 30-31 mayo 2013.

     - “La figura del delincuente en la Transición Española: reconstrucción del mito del bandido (1975-1982)”, Jornada del grupo I+D  Carisma y Transición , Universitat de València, 30-31 mayo 2013.

    Global COE - MEXT

    Abstract

    Global COE (Centre of Excellence) Program, JSPS, Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT): “International Institute for Education and Research in Theatre and Film Arts”, Waseda University.

    Outcomes

    - Presentations:

    -“Archive Pictures in the Memory of the Japanese Defeat” in Cultural Typhoon 2011 Congress, Kobe Center for Overseas Migration and Cultural Interaction, 23 June, 2011

    -“Discovering Minorities after Post-war: First Representations of Korean Residents, Zanichi, in Japanese Cinema” in The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies (ACCS) 2011, Osaka, The Ramada Hotel, 25 March, 2011.

    -Publications:

    -“Discovering Minorities in Japan: First Korean Representations in Japanese Cinema” in ACCS. The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies. Osaka, IAFOR, 2011, pp. 125-137

    I+D Project: Role of the Photomechanical Image in the Memory of the Spanish Civil Wa

    Abstract

    01/02/2009 －01/02/2013 I+D (R&D) Project, Spanish Ministry of Education (HUM2005/02010)Role of the Photomechanical Image in the Memory of the Spanish Civil War. Universitat de València. PI: Dr. Vicente Sánchez-Biosca.

    Outcomes

      Presentations:

    - “Japan in the Spanish Newsreel: the Francoist Stand towards the Pacific War” in Centeno-Martín, Marcos (coord), Cinema around the Axis, University of Valencia, 14 December, 2011.

    - Event organisation:

    -International conference Cinema around the Axis, University of Valencia, 7-21 December, 2011.

  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Supervision

    I welcome research students and project related to Japanese film and media, cultural studies, comparative literature, particularly with an emphasis on issues related to memory, transnationality, minorities and gender perspectives.

    Current Supervisions

    • Joint Principal Supervisor for 2 Birkbeck students
    • external for 1 Birkbeck students

    Teaching

    Marcos Centeno has taught on the following undergraduate modules: 

    -Rethinking Japan: Introduction to Modern Japanese Society and Culture

    -Theorising Japanese Cinema

    -Advanced Seminar in Japanese Culture and Society

    -Understanding Culture: Language and Texts 

    -Reading Transnational Cultures

    -Representations of Love, Desire and Sexuality

    -Culture and Crisis

    -Film and Politics


    He also teaches on the following postgraduate modules for the MA Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies (MA CLACS):

    -Studying Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies in Modern Languages.

    -Memory and History.

    -Imagining the Nation.

  • Publications

    Publications

    Article

    Book

    Book Section

    Editorial

    Other