Three-dimensional reading : stories of time and space in Japanese modernist fiction, 1911-1932 / edited by Angela Yiu.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Yiu, Angela, 1962- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Time in literature.

Space in literature.

Japanese fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

Japanese fiction.

Experimental fiction, Japanese--History and criticism.

Experimental fiction, Japanese.

Physical Description:

xiii, 262 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawaiʻi Press, [2013]

Summary:

A 29th-century dystopian society seen through the eyes of a mutant-cum-romantic poet; a post-impressionist landscape of orbs and cubes experienced by a wandering underdog; an imaginary sick room generated entirely from sounds reaching the ears of an invalid: These and other haunting re-presentations of time and space constitute the Japanese modernist landscape depicted in this volume of stories from the 1910s to the 1930s. The fourteen stories selected for this anthology-by both relatively unknown and "must-read" authors-experiment with a protean modernist style in the vivacious period between the nation-building Meiji and the early years of Showa. The writers capture imaginary temporal and spatial dimensions that embody forms of futuristic urban space, colonial space, utopia, dystopia, and heterotopia. Their work invites readers to abandon the conventional naturalistic approach to spatial and temporal representations and explore how the physical and empirical experience of time and space is distorted and reconfigured through the prism of modernist Japanese prose. The volume includes drawings by contemporary artist Sakaguchi Kyohei, whose ability to create a stunning visual reality beyond the borders of time and place is a testament to the power and reverberations of the modernist imagination. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Scenes of the Mind

A Strange Sound (Hen na oto, 1911) / Natsume Soseki Soseki, Natsume 29

The Law Student in the Garret (Yaneura no hogakushi, 1918) / Uno Koji Koji, Uno 37

Scenes of the Mind (Aru kokoro no fukei, 1926) / Kajii Motojiro Motojiro, Kajii 50

The Sound of Footsteps (Ningen no ashioto, 1925) / Kawabata Yasunari Yasunari, Kawabata 62

Part II Time and Urban Space

Astromania (Tentai shikosho, 1928) / Inagaki Taruho Taruho, Inagaki 69

Configuration (Keitai, 1932) / Tamura Taijiro Taijiro, Tamura 85

The Underside of Town (Machi no soko, 1925) / Yokomitsu Riichi Riichi, Yokomitsu 101

Aquarium (Suizokukan, 1930) / Hori Tatsuo Tatsuo, Hori 109

Pavement Snapshots (Peibumento sunappu-yonaka kara asa made, 1930) / Ryutanji Yu Yu, Ryutanji 123

Landscape with an Officer: A Sketch in 1923 (Junsa no iru fukei, 1929) / Nakajima Atsushi Atsushi, Nakajima 143

Part III Utopia and Dystopia

A Golden Death (Konjiki no shi, 1916) / Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Jun'ichiro, Tanizaki 161

Wonder Island (Fushigi na shima, 1924) / Akutagawa Ryunosuke Ryunosuke, Akutagawa 201

A Record of Nonchalant (Nonsharan kiroku, 1929) / Sato Haruo Haruo, Sato 211

Hell in a Bottle (Binzume no jigoku, 1928) / Yumeno Kyusaku Kyusaku, Yumeno 240.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780824836627

0824836626

9780824838010

0824838017

OCLC:

822895878