2000 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Japanese as aliens-transitions in representations of Japanese in American literature
| Project/Area Number |
10610473
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
英語・英米文学
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| Research Institution | TOKYO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
UZAWA Yoshiko (富島 美子) Tokyo Metropolitan Univ., Dept. Humanities, Ass.Professor, 人文学部, 助教授 (00164533)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1998 – 2000
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| Keywords | Immigration / Yellow peril / Eurasian / Racial stereotypes / Irwin, Wallace / Watanna, Onoto / Hashimura Togo / Seed of the Sun |
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| Research Abstract |
The objective of this research project has been to analyze how Japanese have been represented in American literature. For the period, I have chosen the period spanning 1890-1930 ; the period of mounting tension between Japan and the United States. For the author, I have chosen Wallace Irwin, a humorous writer who has created "Hashimura Togo", a Japanese schoolboy. This period has been picked because the immigrants from Japan were not of the typical type : many of them were from well to do families with high level of education. Thus, contrary to the public perception of immigrants as social ladder climbers, immigrants from Japan were climbing down the ladder. Their plight is summarized in Irwin's term "Japanese schoolboy, a domestic servant". Thus the Japanese (mostly male), even though they were grown up, with respectable social standing in their own country, were "boys", and those who were male became maid-help. The paradox is exploited in a striking and humorous way by Wallace Irwin in his series. In our view, Irwin has created Hashimura Togo drawing on his own experience as a poor white in the U.S.working his way up ; in doing so, he has successfully challenged the dominant conception of race, gender and class.
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