Natalia Egorova
Dana-Allen Dissertation Fellow (2025-2026)
PhD Candidate, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, UW–Madison
Marketing Cosmetics across Woodblock Media in Early Modern Japan
This dissertation explores advertising and marketing strategies in early modern Japan. Through the analysis of various forms of cosmetics advertisements in art and literature, this project focuses on the dynamics of advertising developments, their commonalities with modern-day advertising strategies, and Japan-specific distinguishing features. The nature of early modern Japanese advertisements is tightly embedded in literary and art forms, therefore, leading to the creation of such advertising media as advertising books, board games, and even poetry. The research also tackles the questions of consumerism and capitalism development in a non-Western region, and how technological and development differences may affect the development of advertising theory.
Natalia Egorova is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at UW–Madison. Her research focuses on marketing and advertising of cosmetics in early modern Japan, as well as visual and literary culture, and economic history. She holds an MSc in Japanese from the University of Oxford and BA in Asian studies from Lomonosov Moscow State University. Her research has been supported by the Japan Foundation.
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