Supernatural Japan : Izumi Kyōka and the global fantastic / Pedro Thiago Ramos Bassoe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bassoe, Pedro Thiago Ramos, 1988- Author.

Series:

Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies ; v.107.

Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies ; number 107

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Izumi, Kyōka, 1873-1939--Criticism and interpretation.

Izumi, Kyōka.

Supernatural in literature.

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

Japanese literature.

Literature and history--Japan.

Literature and history.

Physical Description:

xii, 268 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2026]

Summary:

"Supernatural Japan examines the role of Japanese writer Izumi Kyōka (1873-1939) in the formation of modern literature of the fantastic in Japan as a global literary genre. Kyōka wrote some of the most famous stories of ghosts, monsters, and the supernatural in modern Japanese literature, including The Holy Man of Mt. Kōya, The Grass Labyrinth, and The Castle Tower. Despite the clearly modernist elements and global influences of Kyōka's fiction, his work has often been characterized as relying on traditional Japanese genres as inspiration for its themes and literary form. Pedro Bassoe considers how Kyōka's stories have been produced by a meeting of global influences, including Apuleius, The Arabian Nights, Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Prosper Mérimée, Guy de Maupassant, Gerhart Hauptmann, and Jules Verne-combined with traditional Japanese genres. Bassoe develops the notion of "the scholarly fantastic" to describe how a set of realistic epistemologies reinforce the fantastic in Kyōka's writings. Supernatural Japan offers an up-to-date introduction to Izumi Kyōka and his writing for students, scholars, or fans of Japanese fantasy literature and media"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Visual landscapes : Elements of Kyōka's literature of the fantastic

Kusazōshi and the Japanese marvelous : Kyōka as a collector of picture books

Literature in translation : The global fantastic

Kyōka and Maupassant : Modern ghost stories

Kyōka and Mérimée : Tales of magic and ghosts.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-249) and index.

Other Format:

Online version Bassoe, Pedro Thiago Ramos, 1988- Supernatural Japan

ISBN:

9780472077991

0472077996

9780472057993

0472057995

OCLC:

1520909190