Exploring Typewritten Literary Manuscripts via Kerouac's "On the Road"

2018 Fiscal Year Research-status Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K00422
• Research Institution: Kobe City University of Foreign Studies
• Principal Investigator: THEADO Matthew 神戸市外国語大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (70733369)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: literature / typewriter / composition

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

I conducted research on typewriter history, technology, and culture. I used kakenhi funds to buy a 1933 Underwood typewriter in good working condition and to buy books about typewriters. I developed an understanding of the role typewriters played in the composition of literature. I corresponded with a US scholar who studies an American mid-century poet Larry Eigner, who suffered from cerebral palsy. Eigner could not handle a pencil, but he could type with one finger. Jack Kerouac, on the other hand, typed rapidly. We discussed Kerouac and Eigner as the two ends of the spectrum of typewriter composition.

Current Status of Research Progress

2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.

Reason

The research project culminates in an exhibition and an academic symposium, scheduled for May, 2020. I continue to communicate with the BB Plaza Museum of Art in Kobe, where the exhibition and symposium will be held. I have arranged for two speakers: Aoyama Minami, who translated Kerouac’s On the Road into Japanese, and Shibata Motoyuki, a translator who has written extensively on US culture. I have begun plans for a scholars’ workshop that will be part of the symposium. I have also established an online group of Japanese and US academics who are interested in communicating about Kerouac, the Beat Generation, and typewriters. Also, I have written the first drafts of informational material that will accompany the exhibition and symposium.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

I will travel to the New York Public Library Special Collections Room to examine Kerouac’s papers. Among these papers are Kerouac’s typescripts for On the Road and other books, as well as his work journals that detail his methods and progress. My goal is to trace the composition history of the novel in terms of Kerouac’s use of the typewriter. In addition, I will revise the informational material that will accompany the exhibition and symposium.

Causes of Carryover

The main costs in the coming year will be my travel to the New York Public library, the publication of materials to accompany the exhibition and symposium, and the construction of the exhibition case for the On the Road typescript scroll.