The Earth Writes

Reviews / Votes

The Earth Writes is a valuable addition to scholarship on Japanese literature. Expertly researched and smoothly written. * The Journal of Japanese Studies * Haga shows how the massive earthquake of 3-11 unleashed not only a calamitous tsunami and the man-made nuclear disaster of Fukushima, it also shook to the foundations the form and content of contemporary Japanese fiction. Based on extensive research, the book is filled with fascinating insights that reveal the complex ways Japanese writers are reimagining what it means to live as humans on our volatile planet. -- Michael K. Bourdaghs, University of Chicago Koichi Haga's study of post-3.11 literature in Japan provides a fascinating and necessary glimpse for western readers into the Japanese experience of ecoprecarity in the wake of one of the most devastating natural-technological disasters in recent memory. While the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear meltdown received widespread attention, the cultural ramifications and interpretations of these events-and the lessons about nuclear risk that we can learn from this predictable and yet unexpected crisis-have scarcely been contemplated outside of Japan. I find this book to be a valuable contribution to risk criticism and ecocriticism. -- Scott Slovic, Oregon Research Institute