| Project/Area Number |
20K12955
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
Landau Samantha 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 特任准教授 (70739028)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | 英米・英語圏文学 / 英米文学 / 比較文学 / Gothic Fiction / ゴシック小説 / 怪奇小説 / Uncanny Studies / Supernatural Studies |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
During 2022, my research activities increased significantly, back to nearly pre-pandemic levels. I co-organized two conferences, Asian Folklore, Folk Horror, and the Gothic (September 2022), and Captivating Criminality 9 (March 2023) and one conference panel (at the International Gothic Association Conference, July 2022) with Katarzyna Ancuta (Chulalungkorn University, Thailand), Chiho Nakagawa (Nara Women's University, Japan), and Li-Hsin Hsu (National Chengchi University, Taiwan). I also gave conference lectures related to this JSPS project at two of the events: at Asian Folklore, Folk Horror, and the Gothic, and at the International Gothic Association conference.
In addition, I conducted library and archival research, and completed fieldwork during August 2022 in Vermont and in Swarthmore, PA during March 2023. To further contribute to and improve international cooperative efforts with Gothic scholars in Asia, I also conducted fieldwork in Kansai region on Japanese ghosts and dark tourism. I published an analysis and translation of Okamoto Kido’s short story “Sea Turtles,” and submitted a book chapter on Shirley Jackson and folklore, which was accepted for publication.
In 2022, in order to improve ties between myself and other researchers in Asia so that we can grow our GAA network and to guarantee research output during the pandemic, in 2022, I added to my research focus with two topics: the influence of European and American Gothic fiction on Japanese fiction, and contemporary perspectives on haunted spaces in Japan and their reception in English translation.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
The Covid pandemic continues to be an evolving situation, and unfortunately, some of the materials I need to access for my research are located in epidemic hotspots (where, as a high risk person, I cannot easily go) or have been closed to the public. This has caused continued delays. For example, the library at Swarthmore College and the associated library consortium had been closed to outside researchers since March 2020. But from March 2023, I was able to resume some research activities in libraries and archives that I needed to access. Despite setbacks related to lack of physical access to materials until the summer of 2022, I have continued to conduct research remotely via virtual archives, books, and virtual retrieval services, and have made progress.
Moreover, my conference activities returned to normal levels. I contributed to the field by co-organizing two conferences and launching the Gothic in Asia Association. I also actively participated in online conferences and symposiums, attending new research groups to engage with new scholarship, such as the Spiritualism group based in Japan, the Haunted Shores Network based in the UK, and the Shirley Jackson in the 21st Century Group based in Ireland.
Finally, I was finally successful in passing review for a book chapter on Shirley Jackson, folklore, and minorities in the Gothic, which is an important achievement for my research so far; this book will be published in or by late 2023. Overall, the research is still progressing as much as possible considering the obstacles, but it is still not yet entirely back on track.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
This year I plan to give lectures at 4 symposiums/conferences, including one for which I am organizing a panel on Emily Dickinson and the Gothic. The topics of these papers will be on the research I have been conducting on Jewish Gothic and the figure of the outsider, Jewish Gothic and ghosts, Shirley Jackson and folklore. At the panel on Emily Dickinson I'm co-organizing, I intend to give a lecture on Emily Dickinson and the monstrous.
During 2023, my primary focus for events organizing will be to spearhead the second Gothic Spaces conference, with the support of the Gothic in Asia Association and from colleagues in Japan. I am currently assembling the committee and inviting keynotes. I will invited Jeremy Dauber from Columbia University, Higashi Masao (independent researcher), and Dara Downey (Trinity College Dublin) to give keynotes, as well as invite two Tokyo-based poets, Ryan Dzalzkalns and Michael Wasson, to present creative work on the Gothic and ghostly. This conference will be held in online or hybrid format.
I will submit 2 academic articles to journals: one on Shirley Jackson and haunted houses, and one on Emily Dickinson and the image of death in her poetry.
To complete archival research, I will go to the US to the Library of Congress to complete research on Shirley Jackson, Ralph Ellison, and Stanley Hyman. I will also travel to Swarthmore College to complete research on the Jewish supernatural. Provided that it is safe to travel, I will also go to the archives at Montpelier, Vermont and to the YIVO in New York City.
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| Causes of Carryover |
I need to buy new equipment: a new Microsoft Surface laptop computer, an external hard drive for storing data, and a DSLR camera to take high resolution photographs of archival materials and a new printer/scanner for my research. I need miscellaneous office supplies. I will also use some of the funding to buy books and access to academic articles that I need for my research.
I will hire two graduate student assistants to help with the planning of the international conference I am planning, Gothic Spaces 2, and must pay their salaries. They will support the conference preparations by taking care of technology issues, such as email correspondence with delegates, prepare the conference website, and facilitate during Zoom calls with the conference committee.
I will use my funding to pay for participation in conferences so that I may present my research and engage with cutting edge scholarship in the field. In addition, some of the funding must be used for travel to archives and libraries as stated in my intended plan, especially to the state archives in Montpelier, Vermont, to Washington, D.C. to the Library of Congress, and to Swarthmore College library.
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| Remarks |
I co-organized the above two events with Katarzyna Ancuta (Thailand), Chiho Nakagawa (Japan), and Li-Hsin Hsu (Taiwan) of the Gothic in Asia Association. Please see links for details.
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