Accidental Sense of the Local in the 21st Century American Fiction

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K00437
• 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: The University of Tokyo (2021-2022); Doshisha University (2018-2020)
• Principal Investigator: Fujii Hikaru 東京大学, 大学院人文社会系研究科(文学部), 准教授 (20546668)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 現代文学 / 英語圏文学 / 翻訳 / 移民文学 / 記憶と物語 / 創造性文化と文学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study has intended to tackle with aspects of the literary phenomenon in the United States in the 21st century, predominantly in the novel, in which descriptions of character’s relationship to the land they live in are accompanied by an emphasis on the element of "chance." This insight has led to the nuanced examinations of such subjects as 1) the relationship between neoliberal economics and literary production in the literature by white writers, 2) changing relations with the memory of the past and notions of borders in immigrant literature, 3) a sense of ambivalence to "empathy" beyond spatial and cultural constraints, and 4) the rise of novels that incorporate "translation" as the core idea in their narratives. In the future, each of these subjects will have to be developed individually. The translation of such contemporary literary texts into Japanese was also carried out.

Free Research Field

現代英語圏小説

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究が対象とした現代英語圏文学の研究において、アイデンティティの問題をはじめとする個人の「声」という視点は広く共有されている。一方で、現代作家たちがそうした「声」の背後にある集団間での不均衡な関係への注目を強め、あるいは非英語圏での記憶を英語によって語る際に「共感」への批判的視点を物語自体に取り込んでいる、といった論点は、現代文学の成り立つ条件を論じることを可能にしたといえる。