Nagai Kafu's occidentalism : defining the Japanese self / Rachael Hutchinson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hutchinson, Rachael.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nagai, Kafū, 1879-1959--Criticism and interpretation.

Nagai, Kafū.

Civilization, Western, in literature.

East and West in literature.

Japan--In literature.

Japan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (302 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Albany, [New York] : SUNY Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Nagai Kafū (1879–1959) spent more time abroad than any other writer of his generation, firing the Japanese imagination with his visions of America and France. Applying the theoretical framework of Occidentalism to Japanese literature, Rachael Hutchinson explores Kafū's construction of the Western Other, an integral part of his critique of Meiji civilization. Through contrast with the Western Other, Kafū was able to solve the dilemma that so plagued Japanese intellectuals—how to modernize and yet retain an authentic Japanese identity in the modern world. Kafū's flexible positioning of imagined spaces like the "West" and the "Orient" ultimately led him to a definition of the Japanese Self. Hutchinson analyzes the wide range of Kafū's work, particularly those novels and stories reflecting Kafū's time in the West and the return to Japan, most unknown to Western readers and a number unavailable in English, along with his better-known depictions of Edo's demimonde. Kafū's place in Japan's intellectual history and his influence on other writers are also discussed.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Constructing the “West”

Imagining Authenticity

Positioning the Observer

Occidentalism

Resistance

Conclusions

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781438439082

1438439083

9781461907497

1461907497

OCLC:

795174586