The Politics and Literature Debate in Postwar Japanese Criticism, 1945–52: 1945–52

Atsuko Ueda · Michael K. Bourdaghs · Richi Sakakibara · Hirokazu Toeda

Mai 2017 · Lexington Books

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In the wake of its defeat in World War II, as Japan was forced to remake itself from “empire” to “nation” in the face of an uncertain global situation, literature and literary criticism emerged as highly contested sites. Today, this remarkable period holds rich potential for opening new dialogue between scholars in Japan and North America as we rethink the historical and contemporary significance of a number of important issues, including the meaning of the American occupation both inside and outside of Japan, the shifting semiotics of “literature” and “politics,” and the origins of crucial ideological weapons of the cultural Cold War.

This collection features works by Japanese intellectuals written in the immediate postwar period. These writings—many appearing in English for the first time—offer explorations into the social, political, and philosophical debates among Japanese literary elites that shaped the country’s literary culture in the aftermath of defeat.

Autoren-Profil

Atsuko Ueda is associate professor of modern Japanese literature in the Department of East Asian Studies at Princeton University.

Michael K. Bourdaghs is professor of modern Japanese literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago.

Richi Sakakibara is professor of modern Japanese literature at Waseda University.

Hirokazu Toeda is professor of modern Japanese literature at Waseda University.