Research on the Memory of Repatriation in Postwar Japanese Literature: With Special Emphasis on New Developments in English-Language Studies

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K23041
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0102:Literature, linguistics, and related fields
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Lambrecht Nicholas 大阪大学, 文学研究科, 助教 (60845981)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-08-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 引揚げ / 戦後文学 / 脱植民地化 / 移動文学 / ポストコロニアル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project contributed to the development of an emerging academic field examining the repatriation literature produced by repatriates who returned to Japan after the Second World War. In-depth research on works produced by a wide range of repatriate authors served to elucidate how postwar interpretations of repatriation varied not only according to the specific experiences of each author, but also according to region, gender, age, class, and ethnicity. The project enjoyed particular success in resituating the study of Japanese-language repatriation literature in an international context by employing a multilingual approach.

Free Research Field

近現代日本文学、比較文学、国際日本研究

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、戦後の日本への引揚げを描いた文学作品群を分析することにより、引揚げの記憶の維持・回復やその解釈に貢献した。さらに、英語圏の研究で採用されているアプローチを応用することにより、日本の引揚げ文学をグローバルな文脈で再解釈して海外の読者に向けて開き、今後海外で行われる日本文学の研究の新たな展開を促した。