Ōe and Beyond: Fiction in Contemporary JapanStephen Snyder, Philip Gabriel Are the works of contemporary Japanese novelists, as Nobel Prize winner Oe Kenzaburo has observed, "mere reflections of the vast consumer culture of Tokyo and the subcultures of the world at large"? Or do they contain their own critical components, albeit in altered form? Oe and Beyond surveys the accomplishments of Oe and other writers of the postwar generation while looking further to examine the literary parameters of the "Post-Oe" generation. Despite the unprecedented availability today of the work of many of these writers in excellent English translations, some twenty years have passed since a collection of critical essays has appeared to guide the interested reader through the fascinating world of contemporary Japanese fiction. Oe and Beyond is a sampling of the best research and thinking on the current generation of Japanese writers being done in English. The essays in this volume explore such subjects as the continuing resonances of the atomic bombings; the notion of "transnational subjects"; the question of the "de-canonization" (as well as the "re-canonization") of writers; the construction (and deconstruction) of gender models; the quest for spirituality amid contemporary Japanese consumer affluence; post-modernity and Japanese "infantilism"; the intertwining connections between history, myth-making, and discrimination; and apocalyptic visions of fin de siecle Japan. Contributors pursue various methodological and theoretical approaches to reveal the breadth of scholarship on modern Japanese literature. The essays reflect some of the latest thinking, both Western and Japanese, on such topics as subjectivity, gender, history, modernity, and the postmodern. Oe and Beyond includes essays on Endo Shusaku, Hayashi Kyoko, Kanai Mieko, Kurahashi Yumiko, Murakami Haruki, Murakami Ryu, Nakagami Kenji, Oe Kenzaburo, Ohba Minako, Shimada Masahiko, Takahashi Takako, and Yoshimoto Banana. Contributors: Davinder L. Bhowmik, Philip Gabriel, Van C. Gessel, Adrienne Hurley, Susan J. Napier, Sharalyn Orbaugh, Jay Rubin, Atsuko Sakaki, Ann Sherif, Stephen Snyder, Mark Williams, Eve Zimmerman. |
Contents
ŎE KENZABURO AND THE SEARCH FOR THE SUBLIME | 11 |
THE FICTION OF ENDO SHUSAKU | 36 |
TEMPORAL DISCONTINUITY IN THE ATOMIC BOMB FICTION | 58 |
Copyright | |
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Akahito Akiyuki Akutagawa Prize atomic bomb August Ninth become body Boku bokura bungaku Bunkobon burakumin characters Coin Locker Babies contemporary critical culture depiction describes Dream Messenger Endō Endo's essays experience fact father feel female fiction gender Giyaman biidoro Hanzō Hayashi Kyōko hermaphrodite hibakusha Hideo human Ibid identity infantile Japan Japanese literature Junko Kanai Kanai Mieko Karatani Kōjin Karekinada Kōdansha Kurahashi literary lives male Marika Mishima mother Murakami Haruki Murakami Ryū myth mythic Nagasaki Nakagami Kenji Nakamotos Naki ga gotoki Namiko narrative narrator nature notion novel Õe's Ohba Ohba's Oryū Ōtsu person poor aunt postmodern postwar present protagonist reader Rental Child Ritual of Death Rococo-chō role Sennen sense sexual Shimada Shimada Masahiko shōjo short stories shōsetsu society spiritual sublime Takahashi theme tion Tokyo trans translation University vision voice woman women words writing yamamba Yoshimoto Banana