Modern Japanese Literary Studies
Will be published approx. on 26. February 2026
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-0-472-07795-3 (ISBN)
Description
Modern Japanese Literary Studies brings together a broad range of interdisciplinary and institutional perspectives on the state of the field and presses for overdue recognition that Japanese literature is not only a national or East Asian literature, but also deserves equitable representation in the humanities. Modern Japanese literature today is read in unison with colonial and postcolonial literature, women's literature, LGBTQ literature, diasporic literatures, Indigenous literatures, visual cultures, and disability studies, and has made innovative contributions across the humanities.
Bringing together sixteen scholars from North America, Asia, and Europe, this volume addresses Japan's place in global modernity and world literature; the changing definition of the literary within the national canon and area studies configurations; the increased prominence of manga and visual media studies; heightened sensitivity to issues of race, gender, sexuality, and LGBT studies; and the advent of ecocriticism, among other emerging paradigms. The primary objective of this book is to assess the field's study, teaching, research, and cataloging practices and identify challenges and opportunities for growth that lie ahead for the field amidst the ongoing crises that are reshaping the contemporary academic landscape.
Bringing together sixteen scholars from North America, Asia, and Europe, this volume addresses Japan's place in global modernity and world literature; the changing definition of the literary within the national canon and area studies configurations; the increased prominence of manga and visual media studies; heightened sensitivity to issues of race, gender, sexuality, and LGBT studies; and the advent of ecocriticism, among other emerging paradigms. The primary objective of this book is to assess the field's study, teaching, research, and cataloging practices and identify challenges and opportunities for growth that lie ahead for the field amidst the ongoing crises that are reshaping the contemporary academic landscape.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
United States
Illustrations
1 illustration
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-472-07795-3 (9780472077953)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Seth Jacobowitz is Assistant Professor in the Department of World Languages and Literatures at Texas State University.
Jonathan E. Abel is Professor of Japanese and Comparative Literature at Pennsylvania State University.
Jonathan E. Abel is Professor of Japanese and Comparative Literature at Pennsylvania State University.
Content
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Stating the Field, Seth Jacobowitz and Jonathan E. Abel
Part I: Negotiating Disciplinary Formation
1. Between the Margins and the Mainstream: Modern Japanese Women Writers and Evolving Trends in North American Japanese Literature Scholarship, Rebecca Copeland
2. The Inclusion of Okinawa in Japanese Literary Studies, Davinder Bhowmik
3. Do Black Lives Still Matter to Japanese Literary Studies? William H. Bridges IV
4. Ecocritical Precedent, Present, and Possibility in Japanese Literary Studies, Jonathan L. Pitt
5. Comixing Frameworks: Rethinking the Euro-American Critical Paradigm from the Perspective of Manga Studies, Adam Kern
6. Approaches to Researching and Teaching Manga as Literature, Deborah Shamoon
Part II. The Question of Language
7. World Literature and Japanese-Language Literature, Hideto Tsuboi
8. The History and Present of Japanophone Literature: Migration, Border Crossing, and Materiality, Hibi Yoshitaka
9. Modern Japanese Literature and Sinitic Literary Traditions, Matthew Fraleigh
10. Literature and the Cultural Politics of Immigration: Between Lee Hoesung and Yang Yi in the "Era of the Immigrant," YoungRan Ko (trans. Seth Jacobowitz)
11. Translation and the Crisis of Relevancy in Japanese Studies, Jeffrey Angles
Part III: Institutional Responses to the Field
12. The Many What-ifs of Literary Urbanism: A European Perspective, Gala Maria Follaco
13. The Problem of Scale in Japanese Literary Studies, John Whittier Treat
14. Signposts for the Non-Specialist: Thoughts on a Renewed View of the State of Modern Japanese Literary Studies, Christopher Lupke
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Stating the Field, Seth Jacobowitz and Jonathan E. Abel
Part I: Negotiating Disciplinary Formation
1. Between the Margins and the Mainstream: Modern Japanese Women Writers and Evolving Trends in North American Japanese Literature Scholarship, Rebecca Copeland
2. The Inclusion of Okinawa in Japanese Literary Studies, Davinder Bhowmik
3. Do Black Lives Still Matter to Japanese Literary Studies? William H. Bridges IV
4. Ecocritical Precedent, Present, and Possibility in Japanese Literary Studies, Jonathan L. Pitt
5. Comixing Frameworks: Rethinking the Euro-American Critical Paradigm from the Perspective of Manga Studies, Adam Kern
6. Approaches to Researching and Teaching Manga as Literature, Deborah Shamoon
Part II. The Question of Language
7. World Literature and Japanese-Language Literature, Hideto Tsuboi
8. The History and Present of Japanophone Literature: Migration, Border Crossing, and Materiality, Hibi Yoshitaka
9. Modern Japanese Literature and Sinitic Literary Traditions, Matthew Fraleigh
10. Literature and the Cultural Politics of Immigration: Between Lee Hoesung and Yang Yi in the "Era of the Immigrant," YoungRan Ko (trans. Seth Jacobowitz)
11. Translation and the Crisis of Relevancy in Japanese Studies, Jeffrey Angles
Part III: Institutional Responses to the Field
12. The Many What-ifs of Literary Urbanism: A European Perspective, Gala Maria Follaco
13. The Problem of Scale in Japanese Literary Studies, John Whittier Treat
14. Signposts for the Non-Specialist: Thoughts on a Renewed View of the State of Modern Japanese Literary Studies, Christopher Lupke