The Tale of Genji and its Chinese Precursors

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Author :
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 1793634424
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (936 download)

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Book Synopsis The Tale of Genji and its Chinese Precursors by : Jindan Ni

Download or read book The Tale of Genji and its Chinese Precursors written by Jindan Ni and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2020-12-10 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Tale of Genji and Its Chinese Precursors: Beyond the Boundaries of Nation, Class, and Gender, Jindan Ni departs from a “nativist” tradition which views The Tale of Genji as epitomizing an exclusively Japanese aesthetic distinct from Chinese influence and Buddhist values. Ni contests the traditional focus on Japanese essentialism by detailing the impact of Chinese literary forms and presenting the Japanese Heian Court as a site of dynamic and complex literary interchange. Combining close reading, the archival work of Japanese and Chinese scholars, and comparative literary theory, Ni argues that Murasaki Shikibu avoided the constraint of a single literary tradition by drawing on Chinese intertexts. Ni’s account reveals the heterogeneity that makes The Tale of Genji a masterpiece with enduring appeal.

Encountering China’s Past

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Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 9811906483
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (119 download)

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Book Synopsis Encountering China’s Past by : Lintao Qi

Download or read book Encountering China’s Past written by Lintao Qi and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-04-12 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book features articles contributed by leading scholars and scholar-translators in Translation Studies and Chinese Studies from around the world. Written in English, the articles examine the translation of classical Chinese literature, from classics to poetry, from drama to fiction, into a range of Asian and European languages including Japanese, English, French, Czech, and Danish. The collection therefore provides a platform for readers to make comparative and critical readings of scholarship across languages, cultures, disciplines, and genres. With its integration of textual and paratextual materials, this collection of essays is of potential interest to not only academics in the area of Translation Studies, Chinese Studies, Literary Studies and Intercultural Communications, but it may also appeal to communities outside the academia who simply enjoy reading about literature.

Mapping Courtship and Kinship in Classical Japan

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Author :
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
ISBN 13 : 082485733X
Total Pages : 401 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (248 download)

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Book Synopsis Mapping Courtship and Kinship in Classical Japan by : Doris G. Bargen

Download or read book Mapping Courtship and Kinship in Classical Japan written by Doris G. Bargen and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2015-08-31 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Literary critiques of Murasaki Shikibu's eleventh-century The Tale of Genji have often focused on the amorous adventures of its eponymous hero. In this paradigm-shifting analysis of the Genji and other mid-Heian literature, Doris G. Bargen emphasizes the thematic importance of Japan’s complex polygynous kinship system as the domain within which courtship occurs. Heian courtship, conducted mainly to form secondary marriages, was driven by power struggles of succession among lineages that focused on achieving the highest position possible at court. Thus interpreting courtship in light of genealogies is essential for comprehending the politics of interpersonal behavior in many of these texts. Bargen focuses on the genealogical maze—the literal and figurative space through which several generations of men and women in the Genji moved. She demonstrates that courtship politics sought to control kinship by strengthening genealogical lines, while secret affairs and illicit offspring produced genealogical uncertainty that could be dealt with only by reconnecting dissociated lineages or ignoring or even terminating them. The work examines in detail the literary construction of a courtship practice known as kaimami, or “looking through a gap in the fence,” in pre-Genji tales and diaries, and Sei Shōnagon’s famous Pillow Book. In Murasaki Shikibu’s Genji, courtship takes on multigenerational complexity and is often used as a political strategy to vindicate injustices, counteract sexual transgressions, or resist the pressure of imperial succession. Bargen argues persuasively that a woman observed by a man was not wholly deprived of agency: She could choose how much to reveal or conceal as she peeked through shutters, from behind partitions, fans, and kimono sleeves, or through narrow carriage windows. That mid-Heian authors showed courtship in its innumerable forms as being influenced by the spatial considerations of the Heian capital and its environs and by the architectural details of the residences within which aristocratic women were sequestered adds a fascinating topographical dimension to courtship. In Mapping Courtship and Kinship in Classical Japan readers both familiar with and new to The Tale of Genji and its predecessors will be introduced to a wholly new interpretive lens through which to view these classic texts. In addition, the book includes charts that trace Genji characters’ lineages, maps and diagrams that plot the movements of courtiers as they make their way through the capital and beyond, and color reproductions of paintings that capture the drama of courtship.

Chinese Literary Form in Heian Japan

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Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 1684175763
Total Pages : 311 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (841 download)

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Book Synopsis Chinese Literary Form in Heian Japan by : Brian Steininger

Download or read book Chinese Literary Form in Heian Japan written by Brian Steininger and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-05-11 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Written Chinese served as a prestigious, cosmopolitan script across medieval East Asia, from as far west as the Tarim Basin to the eastern kingdom of Heian period Japan (794–1185). In this book, Brian Steininger revisits the mid-Heian court of the Tale of Genji and the Pillow Book, where literary Chinese was not only the basis of official administration, but also a medium for political protest, sermons of mourning, and poems of celebration.Chinese Literary Forms in Heian Japan reconstructs the lived practice of Chinese poetic and prose genres among Heian officials, analyzing the material exchanges by which documents were commissioned, the local reinterpretations of Tang aesthetic principles, and the ritual venues in which literary Chinese texts were performed in Japanese vocalization. Even as state ideology and educational institutions proclaimed the Chinese script’s embodiment of timeless cosmological patterns, everyday practice in this far-flung periphery subjected classical models to a string of improvised exceptions. Through careful comparison of literary and documentary sources, this book provides a vivid case study of one society’s negotiation of literature’s position—both within a hierarchy of authority and between the incommensurable realms of script and speech."

The Literature Book

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Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1465454470
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (654 download)

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Book Synopsis The Literature Book by : DK

Download or read book The Literature Book written by DK and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-05-26 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Books, let's face it, are better than anything else." Nick Hornby Turn the pages of The Literature Book to discover over 100 of the world's most enthralling reads and the literary geniuses behind them. Storytelling is as old as humanity itself. Part of the Big Ideas Simply Explained series, The Literature Book introduces you to ancient classics from the Epic of Gilgamesh written 4,000 years ago, as well as the works of Shakespeare, Voltaire, Tolstoy, and more, and 20th-century masterpieces, including Catch-22, Beloved, and On the Road. The perfect reference for your bookshelf, it answers myriad questions such as what is stream of consciousness, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, and what links the poetry of Wordsworth with that of TS Eliot. Losing yourself in a great book transports you to another time and place, and The Literature Book sets each title in its social and political context. It helps you appreciate, for example, how Dickens' Bleak House paints a picture of deprivation in 19th-century England, or how Stalin's climb to power was the backdrop for George Orwell's 1984. With succinct plot summaries, graphics, and inspiring quotations, this is a must-have reference for literature students and the perfect gift for book-lovers everywhere. Series Overview: Big Ideas Simply Explained series uses creative design and innovative graphics along with straightforward and engaging writing to make complex subjects easier to understand. With over 7 million copies worldwide sold to date, these award-winning books provide just the information needed for students, families, or anyone interested in concise, thought-provoking refreshers on a single subject.

Envisioning The Tale of Genji

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Author :
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231513461
Total Pages : 427 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis Envisioning The Tale of Genji by : Haruo Shirane

Download or read book Envisioning The Tale of Genji written by Haruo Shirane and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2008-07-28 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together scholars from across the world, Haruo Shirane presents a fascinating portrait of The Tale of Genji's reception and reproduction over the past thousand years. The essays examine the canonization of the work from the late Heian through the medieval, Edo, Meiji, Taisho, Showa, and Heisei periods, revealing its profound influence on a variety of genres and fields, including modern nation building. They also consider parody, pastiche, and re-creation of the text in various popular and mass media. Since the Genji was written by a woman for female readers, contributors also take up the issue of gender and cultural authority, looking at the novel's function as a symbol of Heian court culture and as an important tool in women's education. Throughout the volume, scholars discuss achievements in visualization, from screen painting and woodblock prints to manga and anime. Taking up such recurrent themes as cultural nostalgia, eroticism, and gender, this book is the most comprehensive history of the reception of The Tale of Genji to date, both in the country of its origin and throughout the world.

The Fall of Language in the Age of English

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Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231163029
Total Pages : 238 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (311 download)

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Book Synopsis The Fall of Language in the Age of English by : Minae Mizumura

Download or read book The Fall of Language in the Age of English written by Minae Mizumura and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-06 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Kobayashi Hideo Award, this best-selling book by one of JapanÕs most ambitious contemporary fiction writers lays bare the struggle to retain the brilliance of oneÕs own language in an age of English dominance. Born in Tokyo but also raised and educated in the United States, Minae Mizumura acknowledges the value of a universal language in the pursuit of knowledge, yet also appreciates the different ways of seeing offered by the work of multiple tongues. She warns against losing this precious diversity. Universal languages have always played a pivotal role in advancing human societies, Mizumura shows, but in the globalized world of the Internet, English is fast becoming the sole common language of the human race. The process is unstoppable, and striving for total language equality is delusionalÑexcept when a particular knowledge is at stake, gained through writings in a specific language. Mizumura calls these writings ÒtextsÓ and their ultimate form Òliterature.Ó Only through literature, and more fundamentally through the various languages that give birth to a variety of literatures, can we nurture and enrich humanity. Incorporating her own experiences as a writer and a lover of language, and embedding a parallel history of Japanese, Mizumura offers an intimate look at the phenomenona of individual and national expression.

Love After The Tale of Genji

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Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 1684174554
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (841 download)

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Book Synopsis Love After The Tale of Genji by : Charo B. D’Etcheverry

Download or read book Love After The Tale of Genji written by Charo B. D’Etcheverry and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-03-23 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The eleventh-century masterpiece The Tale of Genji casts a long shadow across the literary terrain of the Heian period (794–1185). It has dominated critical and popular reception of Heian literary production and become the definitive expression of the aesthetics, poetics, and politics of life in the Heian court.But the brilliance of Genji has eclipsed the works of later Heian authors, who have since been displaced from the canon and relegated to critical obscurity.Charo B. D’Etcheverry calls for a reevaluation of late Heian fiction by shedding new light upon this undervalued body of work. D’Etcheverry examines three representative texts—The Tale of Sagoromo, The Tale of the Hamamatsu Middle Counselor, and Nezame at Night—as legitimate heirs to the literary legacy of Genji and as valuable indexes to the literary tastes and readerly expectations that evolved over the Heian period.Balancing careful analyses of plot, character, and motif with keen insights into the cultural and political milieu of the late Heian period, D’Etcheverry argues that we should read such works not as mere derivatives of a canonical text, but as dynamic fictional commentaries and variations upon the tropes and subplots that continue to resonate with readers of Genji."

Reading: A Very Short Introduction

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192552457
Total Pages : 191 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (925 download)

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Book Synopsis Reading: A Very Short Introduction by : Belinda Jack

Download or read book Reading: A Very Short Introduction written by Belinda Jack and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-04-08 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today many people take reading for granted, but we remain some way off from attaining literacy for the global human population. And whilst we think we know what reading is, it remains in many ways a mysterious process, or set of processes. The effects of reading are myriad: it can be informative, distracting, moving, erotically arousing, politically motivating, spiritual, and much, much more. At different times and in different places reading means different things. In this Very Short Introduction Belinda Jack explores the fascinating history of literacy, and the opportunities reading opens. For much of human history reading was the preserve of the elite, and most reading meant being read to. Innovations in printing, paper-making, and transport, combined with the rise of public education from the late eighteenth century on, brought a dramatic rise in literacy in many parts of the world. Established links between a nation's levels of literacy and its economy led to the promotion of reading for political ends. But, equally, reading has been associated with subversive ideas, leading to censorship through multiple channels: denying access to education, controlling publishing, destroying libraries, and even the burning of authors and their works. Indeed, the works of Voltaire were so often burned that an enterprising Parisian publisher produced a fire-proof edition, decorated with a phoenix. But, as Jack demonstrates, reading is a collaborative act between an author and a reader, and one which can never be wholly controlled. Telling the story of reading, from the ancient world to digital reading and restrictions today, Belinda Jack explores why it is such an important aspect of our society. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodernism

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 131635184X
Total Pages : 255 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (163 download)

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Book Synopsis The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodernism by : Brian McHale

Download or read book The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodernism written by Brian McHale and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-06-25 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodernism surveys the full spectrum of postmodern culture - high and low, avant-garde and popular, famous and obscure - across a range of fields, from architecture and visual art to fiction, poetry, and drama. It deftly maps postmodernism's successive historical phases, from its emergence in the 1960s to its waning in the first decades of the twenty-first century. Weaving together multiple strands of postmodernism - people and places from Andy Warhol, Jefferson Airplane and magical realism, to Jean-François Lyotard, Laurie Anderson and cyberpunk - this book creates a rich picture of a complex cultural phenomenon that continues to exert an influence over our present 'post-postmodern' situation. Comprehensive and accessible, this Introduction is indispensable for scholars, students, and general readers interested in late twentieth-century culture.

The Literature 100

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Publisher : Infobase Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1438127065
Total Pages : 561 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (381 download)

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Book Synopsis The Literature 100 by : Daniel S. Burt

Download or read book The Literature 100 written by Daniel S. Burt and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is the revised and expanded edition of Daniel S. Burt's fascinating assessment of the 100 most influential novelists, playwrights, and poets of all times and cultures now with 25 additional entries and some reassessments as well as 25 new black-and-white photographs and illustrations. From Doris Lessing and Gabriel Garc a M rquez to Homer and Marcel Proust, the entries provide a compelling, accessible introduction to significant writers of world literature. All of the writers selected have helped to redefine literature, establishing a standard with which succeeding generations of writers and readers have had to contend. The ranking attempts to discern, from the broadest possible perspective, what makes a literary artist great and how that greatness can be measured and compared. Each profile distills the essence of the writer's career and character to help prompt consideration of literary merit and relationships by the reader.

When the World Laughs

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Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0190924993
Total Pages : 385 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (99 download)

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Book Synopsis When the World Laughs by : William V. Costanzo

Download or read book When the World Laughs written by William V. Costanzo and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the World Laughs is a book about the intersection of humor, history, and culture. It explores how film comedy, one of the world's most popular movie genres, reflects the values and beliefs of those who enjoy its many forms, its most enduring characters and stories, its most entertaining routines and funniest jokes. What people laugh at in Europe, Africa, or the Far East reveals important truths about their differences and common bonds. By investigating their traditions of humor, by paying close attention to what kinds of comedy cross national boundaries or what gets lost in translation, this study leads us to a deeper understanding of each other and ourselves. Section One begins with a survey of the theories and research that best explain how humor works. It clarifies the varieties of comic forms and styles, identifies the world's most archetypal figures of fun, and traces the history of the world's traditions of humor from earliest times to today. It also examines the techniques and aesthetics of film comedy: how movies use the world's rich repertoire of amusing stories, gags, and wit to make us laugh and think. Section Two offers a close look at national and regional trends. It applies the concepts set forth earlier to specific films-across a broad spectrum of sub-genres, historical eras, and cultural contexts-providing an insightful comparative study of the world's great traditions of film comedy.

World Theories of Theatre

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Author :
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1317586298
Total Pages : 302 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (175 download)

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Book Synopsis World Theories of Theatre by : Glenn A. Odom

Download or read book World Theories of Theatre written by Glenn A. Odom and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-06-26 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World Theories of Theatre expands the horizons of theatrical theory beyond the West, providing the tools essential for a truly global approach to theatre. Identifying major debates in theatrical theory from around the world, combining discussions of the key theoretical questions facing theatre studies with extended excerpts from primary materials, specific primary materials, case studies and coverage of Southern Africa, the Caribbean, North Africa and the Middle East, Oceania, Latin America, East Asia, and India. The volume is divided into three sections: Theoretical questions, which applies cross-cultural perspectives to key issues from aesthetics to postcolonialism, interculturalism, and globalization. Cultural and literary theory, which is organised by region, presenting a range of theatrical theories in their historical and cultural context. Practical exercises, which provides a brief series of suggestions for physical exploration of these theoretical concepts. World Theories of Theatre presents fresh, vital ways of thinking about the theatre, highlighting the extraordinary diversity of approaches available to scholars and students of theatre studies. This volume includes theoretical excerpts from: Zeami Motokiyo Bharata Muni Wole Soyinka Femi Osofisan Uptal Dutt Saadallah Wannous Enrique Buenaventura Derek Walcott Werewere Liking Maryrose Casey Augusto Boal Tadashi Suzuki Jiao Juyin Oriza Hirata Gao Xingjian Roma Potiki Poile Sengupta

The Oxford Companion to English Literature

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0192806874
Total Pages : 1184 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (928 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Companion to English Literature by : Dinah Birch

Download or read book The Oxford Companion to English Literature written by Dinah Birch and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2009-09-24 with total page 1184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by a team of more than 150 contributors working under the direction of Dinah Birch, and ranging in influence from Homer to the Mahabharata, this guide provides the reader with a comprehensive coverage of all aspects of English literature.

Poetry & Image in Japanese Prints

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Author :
Publisher : Hotei Publishing
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Poetry & Image in Japanese Prints by : Charlotte van Rappard-Boon

Download or read book Poetry & Image in Japanese Prints written by Charlotte van Rappard-Boon and published by Hotei Publishing. This book was released on 2000 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Surimono" (literally "printed object"') are privately published prints inscribed with a dedication or poem that reflects upon everyday themes. This catalog includes more than 150 illustrations of prints drawn from the splendid Amsterdam Rijksmuseum collection. It also contains in-depth essays discussing the history of surimono and the subjects depicted in the prints, which incorporate seasonal references and classical themes. Most of the poems on the selected prints have been translated into English. This publication is an important reference work in the study of "surimono."

The World of the Shining Prince

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 348 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (656 download)

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Book Synopsis The World of the Shining Prince by : Ivan Morris

Download or read book The World of the Shining Prince written by Ivan Morris and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Reading the Kimono in Twentieth-Century Japanese Literature and Film

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Author :
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
ISBN 13 : 0824896947
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (248 download)

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Book Synopsis Reading the Kimono in Twentieth-Century Japanese Literature and Film by : Michiko Suzuki

Download or read book Reading the Kimono in Twentieth-Century Japanese Literature and Film written by Michiko Suzuki and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2023-08-31 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Often considered an exotic garment of "traditional Japan," the kimono is in fact a vibrant part of Japanese modernity, playing an integral role in literature and film throughout the twentieth century. Reading the Kimono in Twentieth-Century Japanese Literature and Film is the first extended study to offer new ways of interpreting textual and visual narratives through "kimono language"--what these garments communicate within their literary, historical, and cultural contexts. Kimonos on the page and screen do much more than create verisimilitude or function as one-dimensional symbols. They go beyond simply indicating the wearer's age, gender, class, and taste; as eloquent, heterogeneous objects, they speak of wartime and postwar histories and shed light on everything from gender politics to censorship. By reclaiming "kimono language"--once a powerful shared vernacular--Michiko Suzuki accesses inner lives of characters, hidden plot points, intertextual meanings, resistant messages, and social commentary. Reading the Kimono examines modern Japanese literary works and their cinematic adaptations, including Tanizaki Jun'ichirō's canonical novel, The Makioka Sisters, and its film versions, one screened under the US Occupation and another directed by Ichikawa Kon in 1983. It also investigates Kōda Aya's Kimono and Flowing, as well as Naruse Mikio's 1956 film adaptation of the latter. Reading the Kimono additionally advances the study of women writers by discussing texts by Tsuboi Sakae and Miyao Tomiko, authors often overlooked in scholarship despite their award-winning, bestselling stature. Through her analysis of stories and their afterlives, Suzuki offers a fresh view of the kimono as complex "material" to be read. She asks broader questions about the act of interpretation, what it means to explore both texts and textiles as inherently dynamic objects, shaped by context and considered differently over time. Reading the Kimono is at once an engaging history of the modern kimono and its representation, and a significant study of twentieth-century Japanese literature and film.