Invasion Narratives in America

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00440
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02030:English literature and literature in the English language-related
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Takano Yasushi 九州大学, 人文科学研究院, 准教授 (50347192)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 侵略ナラティブ / ナチュラリズム / リアリズム / モダニズム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Through clarifying the concept of the "invasion narrative" and situating it historically, this study elucidates the profound influence that such narratives exerted on major 20th-century writers. I examined a range of authors, from Naturalist writers such as Frank Norris and Jack London to Realist authors like Henry James and Edith Wharton, as well as Modernist writers including Ernest Hemingway. By analyzing their works through the lens of the invasion narrative, this research illuminates how fears and anxieties surrounding imperial aggression and the violation of territorial sovereignty fundamentally shaped the literary imagination of this era. In doing so, it makes a novel contribution to our understanding of the complex interplay between geopolitical forces and cultural production in the pivotal decades bracketing the turn of the 20th century.

Free Research Field

アメリカ文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年の日本をめぐる外交問題が非常に切迫した状況にあり、SNSを中心とした極端な右傾化やヘイトスピーチなどが大きな社会的問題となっていたことを考えると、他国に対する憎悪を生み出す「侵略幻想」を扱う研究は非常に重要であると考えられる。直接日本の状況を扱った研究ではないものの、日本の今日的状況に適切に対処するのに必要不可欠な研究であると考えている。