Japanese Studies Commons^™

Tolkien's Oriental Sources? Renunciation Of Immortality And Fairy Nature, Giovanni Carmine Costabile

Journal of Tolkien Research

Thompson motif F302.6.2.2. Fairy gives up her fairy nature and becomes mortal to be able to return to her mortal husband and its combination with H310. Suitor tests and H1010. Impossible tasks are Oriental motifs, to be found only in the Tibetan tale of The Boy with the Deformed Head in O'Connor's 1907 collection and in the 9th century CE Japanese Taketori Monogatari. In this light, it appears necessary, assuming that Tolkien had a source for his idea of Lúthien sacrificing her Elven immortality and Elven fate, that his source must be found in the aforesaid narratives, both available …

Retelling A Tale In Pictures: A Fusion Of The Arts In A Medieval Emaki Of The Japanese Court Romance Geni Npo Monogatori "Tale Of Genji", Sheena Woods

The Ozark Historical Review

The Genji no monoga ta ri 源氏の物語, the Tale of Genji, b y the Japanese court lady Murasak i Shi kibu 紫式部 ( c . 9 7 3 – c . 1014), thought to have been completed around the year 1008, is one literary masterpiece of the Heian 平安 period (794–1185) that has been adapted for retelling many times. A little over one hundred years after its conception it had been adapted and lavishly illustrated as an emaki 絵 or “ picture scroll." This paper provides a discussion on the importance of the emaki to the representation of this early …

Within My Glass Doors, Natsume Sōseki, Iwao Matsuhara, Edwin T. Iglehart

Zea E-Books Collection

During his last years (1915–1916) Natsume Sōseki was often troubled by the stomach ailment that eventually took his life at age 49. Constrained by his illness to remain at his home in Waseda, a Tokyo suburb, he nevertheless continued to work on his novels and to write columns for publication in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

Within My Glass Doors collects those 39 columns; in them he discusses his visitors, his illness, memories of his childhood and family, and interactions with colleagues new and old. The most autobiographical and revealing of all his writings, this collection of essays displays his remarkable …

Kusamakura And Bunchō, Natsume Sōseki, Umeji Sasaki, Hyakusui Hirafuku, Paul Royster

Zea E-Books Collection

Kusamakura—literally “grass pillow”—is a Japanese expression for being “on the road,” away from home, relying on the hospitality of others. Natsume Sōseki’s novel concerns a painter-artist on holiday at a hot springs hotel where he is the lone guest. His encounters with the locals—including a tea-shop matron, a drunken barber, a wood-gatherer, an abbot of a Zen monastery, the hotel proprietor, and, most intriguingly, his lovely enigmatic divorced daughter—prompt reflections and musings on the nature of art and its relation to real life. How can one experience life and still represent it in literature or art? Doesn’t art require …

The Rescue Of Wahutedew’Á And The Epistemological Reforestation: An Analysis Of Time In A Terra Dos Mil Povos, By Kaká Werá Jecupé, Ivo Cruz

The Coastal Review

It is estimated that in 1500, the year the Portuguese arrived in America, there was a population of 2,431,000 inhabitants, according to historian John Hemming (1978), who occupied the lands that we now know as Brazil. These peoples had their own culture whose cosmology was destroyed and erased over time by a violent process of colonization. Even though entire groups were decimated, much of their influence is still alive in Brazilian culture. This influence can be found in vocabulary, cuisine, and even religious practices. With the aim of rescuing ancestral narratives and knowledge of various native peoples, Kaká Werá Jecupé …

Light And Darkness For Aesthetic Pleasure: An Exploration Of J.M.G. Le Clézio’S Early Writings And Jun’Ichiro Tanizaki’S In Praise Of Shadows, Kenichiro Otani

The Coastal Review

Building upon comparative principles, this semantic reading of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s essay In Praise of Shadows and J.M.G. Le Clézio’s early writings illustrates how both the Franco-Mauritian author and the Japanese writer problematize modern Western perception laden with concepts stifling flexible imagination through the mysterious worldview of light/darkness. They also simultaneously express the hope that another way of life leading to liberation is possible. Delving into the spiritual confinement of the subject, they demonstrate how keeping rich creativity within one’s heart can be an escape from a stagnant society. Albeit in very different mediums, Tanizaki and Le Clézio assert that the …

Japanese-English Translation: Critical Consciousness In Crisis, By Miki Kiyoshi, December 1928 (Excerpt Of §1); Published In Kaizō, January 1929; Translated By Christopher Southward, November 2024: 「危機における理論的意識」、三木清著；1928年12月著作；『改造』1929年1月号発行； 2024年11月南方クリストファー訳, Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Critical Consciousness in Crisis, by Miki Kiyoshi, December 1928 (Excerpt of §1) Published in Kaizō, January 1929; Translated by Christopher Southward, November 2024

「危機における理論的意識」、三木清著；1928年12月著作；『改造』1929年1月号発行；2024年11月南方クリストファー訳

Japanese-English Translation:「翻訳について」、岸田國士著、一九三五年一月作 The Question Concerning Translation, By Kishida Kunio (Penned January 1935), Translated By Christopher Southward, November 2024, Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Japanese translator, essayist and dramatist Kishida Kunio (1890-1954) on the craft of translation with an emphasis on French literature and French - Japanese translation

Mending Wounds: A Reparative Feminist Analysis Of The Japanese Film Series Guinea Pig, Mikayla Walker

Comparative Literature M.A. Essays

Guinea Pig (ギニーピッグ) is an anthology series of six body horror films created and released in Japan from 1985 to 1990, all connected by a common theme of bodily experimentation and destruction. The series has maintained a controversial legacy due to its portrayal of intense misogynistic violence. However, upon closer examination, the films reveal subtle moments of patriarchal critique when viewed as a cohesive unit. Using Cynthia Freeland’s framework for creating feminist readings of horror films and Eve Sedgwick’s concept of reparative reading, this research aims to highlight those moments of subversion in order to create a more progressive feminist …

Japanese-English Translation: Three Poems By Takeuchi Kozo: Death In Winter; To The North Sea; Sunset (「冬に死す」・「「北海に」・「夕焼け」), Translated By Christopher Southward, Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Japanese-English Translation: Three Poems by Takeuchi Kozo: Death in Winter; To the North Sea; Sunset (「冬に死す」・「「北海に」・「夕焼け」), Translated by Christopher Southward

Global Communities: The Potential Of Street Art And The Public Space, Elena Picech

The Coastal Review

This paper highlights the significance of physical proximity and the potentiality of socio-spatial situations as tools to enrich study abroad programs. Particular attention is given to street art and the public space. While, studying on-site can be somewhat uncomfortable, it can potentially prompt unique reflections, enhance student’s learning and encourage introspection. Being on-site provides the opportunity to come into contact and to connect with the physical objects and their environment. It enables a multisensory and immersive embodied experience. Leveraging art for communicative educational activities can facilitate a participatory experience, promote critical thinking and enhance cultural understanding.

Learning Chinese Vocabulary: Understanding Students' Perspectives, Austin Gasiecki, Zuotang Zhang

The Coastal Review

This study used a survey to investigate self-study and university-enrolled Chinese learners’ habits in studying Chinese vocabulary in order to determine what study methods influence a.) learners’ confidence in learning Chinese vocabulary and b.) what aspects of Chinese vocabulary they consider easy or difficult. We were particularly interested in seeing what the data had to say about students’ attitudes towards characters and the written language, given that the field of Chinese language pedagogy is known for a stronger focus on the written language as opposed to the spoken language. We found that aspects of Chinese vocabulary associated with the spoken …

Between Pain And Glory: Memory Disputes Of The Brazilian Dictatorship In Retrato Calado And O Que É Isso, Companheiro?, Angela R. Mooney

The Coastal Review

This article analyzes Luiz Roberto Salinas Fortes’ Retrato calado (Silent Portrait) published in 1988, considering the theoretical discussions on testimonio's epistemology—addressing the challenge of narrating trauma and the risk of stylization. It compares Fortes' memoir with Fernando Gabeira's O que é isso, companheiro? (What's This, Comrade?) from 1979, examining diverse approaches to capturing historical trauma through literature and its impact on collective memory about Brazilian Dictatorship (1964-1985).

Decolonizing French: Afrophonics In Ken Bugul’S Aller Et Retour (2013), Hapsatou Wane

The Coastal Review

This article explores the innovative language strategies employed by Senegalese writer Ken Bugul in her novel Aller et retour to construct a dynamic and interconnected linguistic landscape that challenges fixed language boundaries. Ken Bugul's "langue fabriquée" combines elements of French, Wolof, and English, reflecting a transglocal dimension that embodies the essence of afrophonics—a poetics of resistance that empowers local cultures in a globalized context. Through a detailed analysis of Ken Bugul's linguistic choices, including the use of quotation marks, footnotes, and arbitrary transcription, the study reveals how she creates a language that defies categorization and decolonizes French without resorting to …

Japanese-English Translation: Nishida Kitarō––“Self-Determination Of The Eternal Now” 「永遠の今の自己限定」、西田幾多郎著（昭和六年七月） (July 1931) §1 Of 4; Complete Draft (Supersedes Draft Of 2 Jan 19); Translated By Christopher Southward; Revision And Expansion Underway, Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Japanese-English Translation: Nishida Kitarō––“Self-Determination of the Eternal Now” (July 1931) 「永遠の今の自己限定」、西田幾多郎著（昭和六年七月）

§1 of 4; Complete Draft (Supersedes Draft of 2 Jan 2019)

Translated from the Japanese by Christopher Southward; Revision and Expansion Underway, October 2023

Japanese-English Translation: Miki Kiyoshi —Thinking With Master Nishida (First Published In Fujin Kōron, August 1941) Complete Draft; Translated, Edited, And Revised By Christopher Southward, October 2022-September 2023 「西田先生のことども」、三木清著（初発 婦人公論、昭和十六年八月）, Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Japanese-English Translation: Miki Kiyoshi —Thinking with Master Nishida (First Published in Fujin Kōron, August 1941) Complete Draft; Translated, Edited, and Revised by Christopher Southward, October 2022-September 2023「西田先生のことども」、三木清著（初発 婦人公論、昭和十六年八月）

Source text transcribed and published by Aozora Bunko–a compendium of public-domain Japanese literature, philosophy, and criticism

General website: https://www.aozora.gr.jp

Current text: https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000218/files/50538_37481.html

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Maturing Manga: An Analysis Of Adult Themes In Shōnen Manga, Audrey Leahy

Honors College Theses

Manga is a Japanese form of visual storytelling comparable to comic books and graphic novels that has seen a significant increase in popularity abroad in the twenty-first century. In Japan, manga is published in magazines intended for particular target audiences. The two most prominent of these are shōnen, manga for young men, and seinen, manga for adult men. This paper examines these demographics and explores the growing similarities between these two demographics. The research compares the adult content and themes of manga in both shōnen and seinen manga. The series Dorohedoro and Chainsaw Man were analyzed both quantitatively for amounts …

Dissertation Chapters Underway: 10,000 Shards, Or Opening And Activating Depth: Handicraft, Value, And The Work Of Art (Shards 00000-00001), Christopher Southward, Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Dissertation Chapters Underway: 10,000 Shards, Or Opening and Activating Depth: Handicraft, Value, and the Work of Art (Shards 00000-00001), Christopher Southward

De Médée À La Sorcière : Reconstruction D’Un Mythe Par Michelet, Caroline Strobbe

The Coastal Review

In La Sorcière, Jules Michelet uses the strength and the myth of the Medea character, which had already fascinated Corneille. In the second part of his work, Michelet creates nominative witches after authentic texts. In the first part, he creates an allegoric witch on the Medea model: the Woman, a victim of arbitrariness, injustice and repression, rises up against her oppressors, figuring the march of Humanity towards Enlightenment and Liberty. The analogies between the Witch and Medea are therefore numerous and necessary, since they help to render the defense of the oppressed against the oppressor. Would the somber Medea, …

La Radical Imperfección Del Mundo: El Crimen Perfecto De Jean Baudrillard Y El Crimen Ferpecto De Alex De La Iglesia, Maria A. Gomez

The Coastal Review

Le parfait crime (1995) by Jean Baudrillard and Crimen ferpecto (2004) by the Basque director Alex de la Iglesia are two works that not only have in common almost identical titles. They both reflect on how in consumer societies, an imperfect real world is substituted for an illusory hyperreality in which the distinction between subject and object has disappeared. While Baudrillard explains how the denial of a transcendent reality in contemporary society is “a perfect crime” that destroys the real, Alex de la Iglesia uses black humor and a mix of genres (mainly grotesque comedy and thriller) to show the …

Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: Veiled Criticism Through Extreme Entertainment, Thoby Jeanty

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This thesis examines the writings of Meiji novelists living during a time of transition. Their writings became known as part of a genre called Erotic Grotesque Nonsense. The genre became defined as engaging in extremes to entertain an audience captivated by the eroticism, grotesque, or even the nonsensical nature of the stories being told. The thesis discovers there is a pressing social commentary on the tumultuous transition to modernity hidden within these works. The traditions established during the Tokugawa era starting from 1603 and lasting until 1867 came under pressure with the start of the Meiji era in 1868. Each …

Nami-Ko: A Realistic Novel, Kenjiro Tokutomi

Zea E-Books Collection

Nami-Ko, also called The Cuckoo (不如帰, Hototogisu), is a tragic story of love and devotion, through sickness, war, oppression, and vengeance. Eighteen-year-old Nami Kataoka hoped her marriage to Baron Takeo Kawashima would bring freedom from her overbearing stepmother. But the couple’s happiness is spoiled by her illness, her mother-in-law’s jealousy, and the schemes of Chijiwa, her husband’s cousin and her own disappointed suitor. Takeo’s naval career takes him away for long periods, and when war breaks out between Japan and China (in 1894), his mother takes advantage of his absence to break up the marriage, sending Nami back …

The Valiant Woman, Ann Louise Cole

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1600, Hosokawa Tama Gracia perished under mysterious circumstances. She was a noblewoman married to a powerful daimyo, the daughter of a traitor, and a Kirishitan convert during the “Christian Century” in Japan. In life, she was both dutifully subservient and tenaciously bold. In death, she was fodder for propaganda, and in the hands of European writers her life story was re-written for specific narrative purposes. The most striking of these artistic transformations is her depiction as a Christian martyr in the late seventeenth-century Latin Jesuit drama Mulier fortis. The music for this drama was composed by Johann Bernhard Staudt …

“For Now We See In A Mirror, Dimly”: Dialectical Wholeness In Oshii Mamoru’S Ghost In The Shell, Mari Aida

Comparative Literature M.A. Essays

This essay argues that Oshii Mamoru's 1995 animated film Ghost in the Shell, while indicating possible alliances with the political interests of cyberfeminism, ultimately advocates for the oppositional agenda of dialectical wholeness. Foundational texts of cyberfeminism, such as Donna J. Haraway's "A Manifesto for Cyborgs," have criticized narratives of isolation and a return towards a primordial wholeness implicit in Euro-American scientific culture. In the context of these texts, the cyborg symbolizes a departure from such narratives and guides the political project of reimagining epistemological boundaries. However, despite its apparent alignment with such projects, Ghost in the Shell dramatizes and …

The Influence Of The Thirty-Six Stratagems On Chinese Strategy In The Diaoyu Islands, Brent Schuliger

Senior Honors Theses

The Diaoyu Islands are a small, uninhabited archipelago in the East China Sea which has begun increasing in strategic significance due to its advantageous location near Taiwan and along the First Island Chain. The islands are currently under Japanese administration, but the People’s Republic of China considers them historically Chinese and contests Japan’s claim to the islands. A careful examination of China’s actions in challenging Japan’s rule over the Diaoyus reveals the influence of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, a tome of ancient Chinese military wisdom which provides a framework onto which China’s current strategy corresponds. This thesis examines the historical …

Ten Nights' Dreams And Our Cat's Grave, Natsume Soseki

Zea E-Books Collection

Ten Nights’ Dreams (夢十夜, Yume Jūya) is a classic written work from the Japanese master Natsume Soseki. Originally published in 1908, it announced the emergence in Japanese literature of a modernist and impressionistic mode. Short ­vignettes with fantastic, tragic, or magical events convey an exquisite sensibility compounded with stark realism. Love, honor, duty, artistry, desire, despair, and regret all shape events in the dream-world. The stories themselves suggest echoes of meanings beyond the failures of rational sense-making. Ten dreams—each unique and arresting—form a panorama of life and feeling, at once universal and intensely present.

“Our Cat’s Grave” is a brief …

I Am A Cat, No. Ii, Natsume Sōseki, Kan-Ichi Ando

Zea E-Books Collection

What would the neighbors say about you if they didn’t know your cat was listening?

What if it was “The Cat With No Name”? The one who claims “I have, as a cat, attained the highest pitch of evolution imaginable. … My tail is filled with all sorts of wisdom and, above all, a secret art handed down in the cat family, which teaches how to make fools of mankind. … I am a cat, it is true, but remember I am one who keeps in the house of a scholar who reads the Moral Discourses of Epictetus and bangs …

Japanese-English Translation: Katayama Hiroko—Jesus And Simon Peter (June 1953), Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Translation of 「イエスとペトロ」、片山廣子著、昭和２８年６月

Source: Aozora Bunko (a digital archive of public-domain Japanese-language works)

General website: https://www.aozora.gr.jp

Current text: https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001346/files/50159_41222.html

Japanese-English Translation: Katayama Hiroko—Fifty-Dollar Coffee (June 1953), Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Revised translation of「コーヒー五千円」、片山廣子著、底本「燈火節」暮しの手帖社、昭和２８年

Source, Aozora Bunko (a digital archive of public-domain Japanese-language works):

General website: https://www.aozora.gr.jp

Current text: https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001346/files/49517_35999.html