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The fox and Dr. Shimamura / Christine Wunnicke ; translated from the German by Philip Boehm.
Van Pelt Library PT2685.U56 F8313 2019
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Wunnicke, Christine, 1966- author.
- Standardized Title:
- Fuchs und Dr. Shimamura. English
- Language:
- English
- German
- Subjects (All):
- Psychiatrists--Fiction.
- Psychiatrists.
- Demoniac possession.
- Foxes.
- Foxes--Fiction.
- Demoniac possession--Fiction.
- Japanese fiction.
- Europe.
- Genre:
- Fiction.
- Magic realist fiction.
- Novels.
- Physical Description:
- 151 pages ; 21 cm
- Other Title:
- Fox and Doctor Shimamura
- Fox & Dr. Shimamura
- Fox & Doctor Shimamura
- Place of Publication:
- New York : New Directions Publications, [2019]
- Summary:
- "The Fox and Dr. Shimamura toothsomely encompasses Japan and Europe, memory and actuality, fox-possession myths and psychiatric mythmaking. The novel begins near the story's end, in Dr. Shimamura's retirement. A feverish invalid, he's watched over by four women: his wife, his mother, his mother-in- law, and a nurse (originally one of his psychiatric patients). His mother is busily writing and rewriting his biography, Between Genius and Madness. As an outstanding young Japanese medical student at the end of the nineteenth century, Dr. Shimamura is sent--to his dismay--to the provinces: he is asked to cure scores of young women of an epidemic of fox possession. He considers the assignment a joke, believing it's all a hoax, until he sees a fox moving under the skin of a beauty. He comes to believe not just in fox possession, but also that he in fact "cured" the young woman with a kiss, by breathing in the fox demon (the root of his lifelong fever). Next he travels to Europe and works with such luminaries as Charcot, Breuer and (briefly) Freud himself (whose methods he concludes are incompatible with Japanese politeness). The ironic parallels between Charcot's hack theories of female "hysteria" and Japanese ancient folklore--when it comes to beautiful writhing young women--are handled with a lightly sardonic touch by Christine Wunnicke, whose flavor-packed language is a delight"-- Provided by publisher.
- Notes:
- "New Directions paperbook original" -- title page.
- Originally published as Der Fuchs und Dr. Shimamura by Berenbberg Verlag in 2015.
- Other Format:
- Online version: Wunnicke, Christine, 1966- author. Fox and Dr. Shimamura
- ISBN:
- 9780811226240
- 0811226247
- OCLC:
- 1060177861
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