| Project/Area Number |
23K17092
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 80010:Area studies-related
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| Research Institution | Hirosaki University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023-04-01 – 2027-03-31
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| Project Status |
Granted (Fiscal Year 2023)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
Fiscal Year 2026: ¥390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥90,000)
Fiscal Year 2025: ¥390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥90,000)
Fiscal Year 2024: ¥390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥90,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥90,000)
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| Keywords | Manchuria / Japanese literature / place / colonialism / Colonialism / Ecocriticism / Place / Spirit |
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| Outline of Research at the Start |
This research examines Japanese-language literature in Manchuria circa 1905-1946 and its complex networks of writers and readers to understand the interaction of canon formation, political discourse, and literary technique; and how themes of nature, disease and illness, and spirit create place.
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
This year, I continued to survey and organize materials relating to Japanese-language literature in colonized Manchuria. My research contributes to a growing body of English-language research on Manchuria as place, and recently focused on two main thrusts. First, my work thematically analyzed works in two important short-story anthologies which functioned as early contibutions to the field of so-called "Manchurian literature" as well as the influential government-propagated "Prospectus on the Arts." I demonstrated that these anthologies were compiled with the intention to found a new national literature for Manchukuo, and how their respective editors replicated the language of the "Prospectus of the Arts" and other propagandistic writings. On the other hand, the actual works collected therein often portray a very different, even self-critical image of the burgening imperial state. This basic research was intended to create a foundation from which to build more theoreitcally-oriented work.
Second, in contrast to the broader survey-style approach of the aspect of the project described above, I translated and analyzed the work of the minor writer Takagi Kyozo, some of which was also included in one of the aforementioned anthologies. I argue that Takagi was in some ways representative of the compromised status of "minor" Japanese writers in Manchuria: he both benefitted politically and economically from his nationality vis-a-vis the local people, while he was psychologically and artistically stunted by his relationship with the mainland Japanese literary establishment.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
- Instead of publishing research about the journal Manshu Roman, which was not yet completed, I conducted a similar, related project taking up two literary anthologies and the government-promulgated "Prospectus on the Arts." While this is not the same as my initial plans, the work is similar in both scope and significance
- I succeeded in publishing a translation of Takagi Kyozo's prose with a critical introduction investigating his work as a representative "minor" Japanese author in Manchuria
- I have been unable to gather enough data to meaningfully spatialize and analyze literary networks. Although I will continue gathering publication data, working manually with limited access to primary resources has not proved fruitful yet. This is a small failure of the project; however, I have already begun concentrating my efforts in more productive ways
- I drafted a full new literary translation of Tomita Hisashi's "Sasouchi" (grassy dunes) and began reading of theoretical works related to property and ownership which will support subsequent years of the project, particularly my work connected to Tomita's writing
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
While my initial plan for AY2024 was to turn to ecocriticism, bolstering my theoretical knowledge and background in the subject before applying it to the specific context of Japanese-language literature in Manchuria, the translation and theoretical reading conducted during AY2023 has led me to partially change direction. My focus this year will be on using the translation of Tomita Hisashi's lengthy short story, which I drafted last year, as a lens through which to examine the propagandized representation of ethnic diversity in the colonial space. The story was penned by a Japanese writer from the perspective of a Mongolian boy growing up in a context of conflict between his people and Chinese immigrants. Specifically, understanding the work requires both an ecocritical perspective on the relationship between humans, livestock, and land; as well as a perspective on how those topics intertwine with issues of property and exchange. In order to conduct this research, I will continue reading and considering theories of value as well as the interaction between value, exchange, and ecology.
After preparing the Tomita short story for publication, I also plan to continue translating other works, as per my original research scheme.
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