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The representation of children in the contemporary black diasporic fictions

Research Project

Project/Area Number 16K16790
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Research Field Literature in English
Research InstitutionNihon University (2019)
Mejiro University (2016-2018)

Principal Investigator

Okajima Kei  日本大学, 経済学部, 准教授 (10710569)

Project Period (FY) 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2019)
Budget Amount *help
¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000)
Fiscal Year 2018: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2017: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Keywords黒人文学 / 子ども / ポスト植民地主義 / パリンプセスト / 黒人ディアスポラ / 人種 / アフロ・フューチャリズム / 子ども表象 / 黒人女性 / セクシュアリティ / 幽霊 / アフリカ的死生観 / 人道主義批判 / 英米文学 / アフリカン・ディアスポラ
Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study has examined the complex role of the black child protagonists who emerge so prominently in contemporary black diasporic fictions published from the 1970s to the early 21st century. In literatures published after mid-1960s when former European colonies achieved independence and African Americans successfully won Civil Rights, African and African American authors mobilized the figure of children as active agents that address the various issues of their national or cultural identities. Through the vigorous investigation of the four primary texts, this study has discovered that the black male and female children in these novels feature “palimpsestically” to restore memories and histories of their ancestors. In the context of the necro-political turn of contemporary world, their palimpsestic memories serve as great resources for them to use in order to survive, resist, and even execute revenge.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

子どもが主要な登場人物として描かれる作品は枚挙にいとまがない。しかし、本研究が行ったポスト植民地主義の文脈から英語圏黒人文学における子ども表象に特化した研究は驚くほど少ない。本研究で判明したとりわけ興味深い点は、黒人の子どもの登場人物が二重の歴史性を帯びる点である。すなわち、古くからある黒人=子どもという植民地主義言説を意図的に照射し、これを転覆させながら、貧困や戦争、人種差別といった21世紀における新たな世界的問題をあぶりだしていくのだ。本研究の学術的意義は、英語圏黒人文学における子どもたちに付与されたこのような特質を浮かび上がらせた点にある。

Report

(5 results)
  • 2019 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2018 Research-status Report
  • 2017 Research-status Report
  • 2016 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (7 results)

All 2020 2019 2018 2016

All Journal Article (4 results) (of which Peer Reviewed: 2 results,  Open Access: 1 results) Presentation (3 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 1 results,  Invited: 1 results)

  • [Journal Article] 書評-Raphael Lambert, Narrating the Slave Trade, Theorizing Community2020

    • Author(s)
      岡島慶
    • Journal Title

      黒人研究

      Volume: 89 Pages: 171-173

    • NAID

      40022611925

    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] ラルフ・エリスンのディアスポラ―『見えない人間』におけるディアスポラ哲学の展開2019

    • Author(s)
      岡島慶
    • Journal Title

      立命館言語文化研究

      Volume: 31

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] “Pain was not only endurable, it was sweet”: Re-memory and Healing in The Bluest Eye2018

    • Author(s)
      Kei Okajima
    • Journal Title

      New Academia: An International Journal of English Language, Literature and Literary Theory

      Volume: 7 Pages: 2138-2138

    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] "We Are Nothing If We Don't Know How to Die Right": The Wandering Ghost in Chris Abani's Song for Night2018

    • Author(s)
      Kei Okajima
    • Journal Title

      黒人研究

      Volume: 87 Pages: 88100-88100

    • NAID

      40022611988

    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Presentation] “And she’s only a kid”: Blackness and Futurity in Octavia E. Butler’s Fledgling2020

    • Author(s)
      Kei Okajima
    • Organizer
      The 18th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities
    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] 西欧の伝統に対するアフリカン・ディアスポラ文学の交渉と実践:アメリカ、キューバ、ブラジルを例に2018

    • Author(s)
      岡島慶
    • Organizer
      立命館大学国際文化研究所
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] We Are Nothing If We Don’t Know How to Die Right”: Song for Nightにおける彷徨えるゴースト2016

    • Author(s)
      岡島慶
    • Organizer
      黒人研究学会
    • Place of Presentation
      東洋大学(東京都・文京区)
    • Year and Date
      2016-12-17
    • Related Report
      2016 Research-status Report

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Published: 2016-04-21   Modified: 2021-02-19  

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