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Description

"Representing the Other in Modern Japanese Literature" looks at the ways in which authors writing in Japanese in the twentieth century constructed a division between the 'Self' and the 'Other' in their work. Drawing on methodology from Foucault and Lacan, the clearly presented essays seek to show how Japanese writers have responded to the central question of what it means to be 'Japanese' and of how best to define their identity. Taking geographical, racial and ethnic identity as a starting point to explore Japan's vision of 'non-Japan', representations of the Other are examined in terms of the experiences of Japanese authors abroad and in the imaginary lands envisioned by authors in Japan. Using a diverse cross-section of writers and texts as case studies, this edited volume brings together contributions from a number of leading international experts in the field and is written at an accessible level, making it essential reading for those working in Japanese studies, colonialism, identity studies and nationalism.

Contents

Introduction "Rachael Hutchinson" and "Mark Williams 1". Hermes and Hermes: Othernesses in modern Japanese literature "Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit 2". Meet Me on the Other Side: Strategies of otherness in modern Japanese literature "Susan Napier" Part 1 External Others 3. Who Holds the Whip? Power and critique in Nagai Kafu's "Tales of America" "Rachael Hutchinson" 4. Foreign Bodies: 'Race', gender and orientalism in Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's "The Mermaid's Lament" "Adrian Pinnington" 5. Self and Other in the writings of Kajii Motojiro "Steve Dodd" 6. Yokomitsu Riichi's Others: Paris and Shanghai "Douglas Slaymaker" Part 2 Internal Others 7. Passing: Paradoxes of Alterity in "The Broken Commandment" "Mark Morris" 8. The "burakumin" as Other in Noma Hiroshi's "Circle of Youth" "James Raeside" 9. Sincerely Yours: Uno Chiyo's "A Wife's Letters" as wartime subversion "Rebecca Copeland" 10. Foriegn Sex, Native Politics: "Lady Chatterley's Lover" in post-occupation Japan "Ann Sherif" 11. The Way of the Survivor: conversion and inversion in Oe Kenzaburo's "Hiroshima Notes David Stahl "12. Free to Write: Confronting the present and the past in Shiina Rinzo's "The Beautiful Woman" "Mark Williams" Part 3 Liminal Sites 13. "Yuta" as the Postcolonial Other in Oshiro Tatsuhiro's Fiction "Leith Morton" 14. Modernity, History, and the Uncanny: The colonial encounter and the epistemological gap "Faye Kleeman" 15. There's No Such Place As Home: Goto Meisei, or identity as alterity "Atsuko Sakaki "16. Beyond Language: Embracing the figure of 'the Other' in Yi Yang-Ji's "Yuhi" "Catherine Ryu"