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Bartlebys: Aspects of Office Fiction

Research Project

Project/Area Number 16K02496
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Section一般
Research Field Literature in English
Research InstitutionUniversity of the Ryukyus

Principal Investigator

Kobayashi Masaomi  琉球大学, 教育学部, 准教授 (30404552)

Project Period (FY) 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2019)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
Fiscal Year 2018: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000)
Fiscal Year 2017: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Keywordsバートルビー / オフィス・フィクション / ホワイトカラー / ワーク・ライフ・バランス / バートルビーたち / 女性 / Bartleby / Bartlebys / office / office fiction / Gothic / Kafka / The Man of the Crowd / Fight Club / チャールズ・ブコウスキー / ポスト・オフィス / 仕事 / 郵便 / ポストオフィス / ベンジャミン・フランクリン / トマス・ピンチョン / エドガー・アラン・ポー / 英米文学
Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project has made several discoveries of office fiction that has drawn insufficient attention in American literary studies, by investigating underexplored contexts. Foremost among those discoveries is about a variety of office fiction writers and their main characters--female as well as male ones.

The project has revealed that office fiction is not simply a genre fiction, but rather it is certainly overlapped with other genres of fiction. Indeed, it demonstrates Bartlebys are discoverable and discussable in close relation to such chick-lit novels as Lawren Weisburger's The Devil Wears Prada and to such transatlantic classics as Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

小説という近代の産物においては、往々にして「働くこと」より「生きること」の方が重要視される。このことは、いわゆるホワイトカラーをめぐる小説において顕著である。それゆえ会社員、公務員、事務員といった職種をめぐるオフィス・フィクションは、開拓する余地を十分に残している。特に本研究で追求したのは、オフィスという空間が拡張的であるということである。すなわち、オフィス・フィクションにおけるオフィスの内外は、仕事と生活という二分法に基づくワーク・ライフ・バランスを超越する一つの世界として提示されている。この世界観は、現実世界におけるオフィスの様相を考察する際の一つの重要な手がかりとなるだろう。

Report

(5 results)
  • 2019 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2018 Research-status Report
  • 2017 Research-status Report
  • 2016 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (6 results)

All 2020 2019 2018 2017

All Journal Article (6 results) (of which Peer Reviewed: 5 results,  Open Access: 4 results)

  • [Journal Article] The Will to Matter: Captain Ahab, the Cyborg2020

    • Author(s)
      Masaomi Kobayashi
    • Journal Title

      Studies in English Literature

      Volume: 61 Pages: 21-35

    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] Do the Electric Things Have Their Lives, Too? Philip K. Dick on Post-Humanity2019

    • Author(s)
      Masaomi Kobayashi
    • Journal Title

      American Research Journal of English and Literature

      Volume: 5 Pages: 1-11

    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] Bartlebys: Gothicizing Office Fiction2018

    • Author(s)
      Masaomi Kobayashi
    • Journal Title

      Palgrave Communications

      Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Pages: 1-6

    • DOI

      10.1057/s41599-018-0186-5

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] What Is the Man of the Crowd?2018

    • Author(s)
      Masaomi Kobayashi
    • Journal Title

      Studies in English Literature: Regional Branches Combined Issue

      Volume: 11 Issue: 0 Pages: 323-331

    • DOI

      10.20759/elsjregional.11.0_323

    • NAID

      130007591482

    • ISSN
      1883-7115, 2424-2446
    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] The Universe of the Office: Fight Club and Bartlebys2018

    • Author(s)
      Masaomi Kobayashi
    • Journal Title

      Scripsimus

      Volume: 27 Pages: 49-63

    • NAID

      120006546269

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
    • Open Access
  • [Journal Article] On Working and Writing: Charles Bukowski in Transition2017

    • Author(s)
      Masaomi KOBAYASHI
    • Journal Title

      Southern Review

      Volume: 32 Pages: 53-67

    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed

URL: 

Published: 2016-04-21   Modified: 2021-02-19  

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