Human Rights in Twentieth-Century African American Literature

• Project/Area Number: 25370303
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: TAKEUCHI Mikako 慶應義塾大学, 商学部, 教授 (00227000)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
• Budget Amount: ¥2,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥660,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
• Keywords: アフリカ系アメリカ文学 / アメリカン・ルネサンス / リチャード・ライト / ラルフ・エリスン / ハーマン・メルヴィル / 公民権運動 / 脱植民地化 / 奴隷解放思想 / ニューディール政策

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project explores how twentieth-century African American literature has inspired the pursuit of civil liberties and human rights. This research examines the social characteristics of literary works by conducting (1)an intertextual analysis of the literature of the American Renaissance and African American modernism and (2)an interpretation of African American writings against the historical background of the period from the Great Depression to the Cold War. Based on close reading of works from the socio-political viewpoint, this study portrays African American literature as the main motivating factor for the Civil Rights Movement and decolonization.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Foregrounding Otherness: Ralph Ellison's Interpretation of Melville's Works (2015)
  • Author(s): Mikako Takeuchi
  • Journal Title: Sky-Hawk: The Journal of the Melville Society of Japan Volume: 3 Pages: 5-20
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] ソローと現代アメリカ文学 (2015)
  • Author(s): 竹内美佳子
  • Journal Title: 命の泉を求めて ― 日本ソロー学会50年の歩み ― ヘンリー・ソロー研究論集 Volume: 特別号 Pages: 58-59
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] Foregrounding Otherness: Ralph Ellison's Interpretation of Melville's Works (2015)
  • Author(s): Mikako Takeuchi
  • Organizer: The Tenth International Melville Conference: Melville in a Global Context
  • Place of Presentation: Keio University, Tokyo
  • Year and Date: 2015-06-27
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Foregrounding Otherness: Ralph Ellison's Interpretation of Melville's Works (2015)
  • Author(s): 竹内美佳子
  • Organizer: The Tenth International Melville Conference
  • Place of Presentation: 慶應義塾大学（東京都港区）
  • Year and Date: 2015-06-27
• [Presentation] Redburn ― 見る主体への航海 (2014)
  • Author(s): 竹内美佳子
  • Organizer: 第3回日本メルヴィル学会年次大会
  • Place of Presentation: 専修大学（東京都千代田区）
  • Year and Date: 2014-09-14
• [Presentation] 前景化する他者――Ralph Ellison の読むMelville
  • Author(s): 竹内美佳子
  • Organizer: 日本アメリカ文学会第52回全国大会
  • Place of Presentation: 明治学院大学 （東京）