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Amy Yamada is one of the most prominent--and controversial--novelists in Japan today. She bursted onto the scene in 1985 with her short novel "Bedtime Eyes," which for critics embodied the spirit of the 'shinjinru'--i.e. Generation X-- in much the same way that Less Than Zero, Bright Lights, Big City, and Douglas Coupland did in the U.S. Bedtime Eyes is the first English-language publication of three of Yamada's novellas/short novels: "Bedtime Eyes," "The Piano Player's Fingers" and "Jesse." While all are centered around the relationship between a Japanese woman and a black American man, each explores love, sex, and the vast gulf between from different and equally revealing viewpoints. Starkly imagined and sharply observed, Bedtime Eyes introduces to the English language some of Yamada's best known and most influential work.
In a racy new interpretation of the traditional Japanese autobiographical novel, Amy Yamada makes her U.S. debut with a view of American urban life. Her frank portrayals of human relationships have both shocked and earned her respect in Japan, and in Trash--a mix of fantasy and authentic experience--she lives up to her reputation.
This volume has a dual purpose. It aims to define the state of Japanese literary studies in the field of women's writing and to present cross-cultural interpretations of Japanese material of relevance to contemporary work in gender studies and comparative literature.
Playing in the Shadows considers the literature engendered by postwar Japanese authors’ robust cultural exchanges with African Americans and African American literature. The Allied Occupation brought an influx of African American soldiers and culture to Japan, which catalyzed the writing of black characters into postwar Japanese literature. This same influx fostered the creation of organizations such as the Kokujin kenkyū no kai (The Japanese Association for Negro Studies) and literary endeavors such as the Kokujin bungaku zenshū (The Complete Anthology of Black Literature). This rich milieu sparked Japanese authors’—Nakagami Kenji and Ōe Kenzaburō are two notable examples—intere...
It was not until Kawabata Yasunari won the 1968 Nobel Prize for literature that the average Western reader became aware of contemporary Japanese literature. A few translations of writings by Japanese women have appeared lately, yet the West remains largely ignorant of this wide field. In this book Sachiko Schierbeck profiles the 104 female winners of prestigious literary prizes in Japan since the beginning of the century. It contains summaries of their selected works, and a bibliography of works translated into Western languages from 1900 to 1993. These works give insight into the minds and hearts of Japanese women and draw a truer picture of the conditions of Japanese community life than any sociological study would present. Schierbeck's 104 biographies constitute a useful reference work not only to students of literature but to anyone with an interest in women's studies, history or sociology.
Japan's most liberated woman writer uses the raw details of life to sort through the passions roused by love, sex and drink
With the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan opened its doors to the West and underwent remarkable changes as it sought to become a modern nation. Accompanying the political changes that Western trade ushered in were widespread social and cultural changes. Newspapers, novels, poems, and plays from the Western world were soon adapted and translated into Japanese. The combination of the rich storytelling tradition of Japan with the realism and modernism of the West produced some of the greatest literature of the modern age. Historical Dictionary of Modern Japanese Literature and Theater, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 500 cross-referenced entries authors, literary and historical developments, trends, genres, and concepts that played a central role in the evolution of modern Japanese literature.
Papers presented at the three day International Conference on "Changing Global Profile of Japanese Studies : Trends and Prospects", held at New Delhi during 6-8 March 2009.
Using the Euro-American theoretical framework of postmodernism, feminism and post-colonialism, this book analyses the fictional and critical work of four contemporary Japanese writers; Murakami Haruki, Yoshimoto Banana, Yoshimoto Takaaki and Karatani Kojin. In addition the author reconsiders this Euro-American theory by looking back on it from the perspective of Japanese literary work. Presenting outstanding analysis of Japanese intellectuals and writers who have received little attention in the West, the book also includes an extensive and comprehensive bibliography making it essential reading for those studying Japanese literature, Japanese studies and Japanese thinkers.
This much-needed guide to translated literature offers readers the opportunity to hear from, learn about, and perhaps better understand our shrinking world from the perspective of insiders from many cultures and traditions. In a globalized world, knowledge about non-North American societies and cultures is a must. Contemporary World Fiction: A Guide to Literature in Translation provides an overview of the tremendous range and scope of translated world fiction available in English. In so doing, it will help readers get a sense of the vast world beyond North America that is conveyed by fiction titles from dozens of countries and language traditions. Within the guide, approximately 1,000 contem...