American Novels set on Okinawa

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26370322
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: University of the Ryukyus
• Principal Investigator: TOKUYAMA Yukinori 琉球大学, グローバル教育支援機構, 非常勤講師 (20412869)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): McCAFFERY Larry サン・ディエゴ州立大学, 英文学比較文学部, 名誉教授 ; GREGORY Sinda サン・ディエゴ州立大学, 英文学比較文学部, 名誉教授
• Research Collaborator: NISARAGI Celine , 作家 ; COOPER E. A. , 作家
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: アメリカ小説 / 沖縄 / 在沖米軍基地 / ポストコロニアル理論 / 沖縄（人）表象 / ヴァーン・スナイダー / ジョン・パトリック

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The main purpose of the study looked at how American authors described Okinawa and Okinawans in their novels set on the postwar Okinawa. In applying postcolonial theories, I explored Okinawa's (post)colonial conditions greatly influenced by the US military presence on the islands. There are basically two types of fiction: stories that criticize the US military control over the Okinawan society and ones that hope the US-Okinawa relations to be improved in respect for Okinawan culture and spirituality. I also held a symposium in Okinawa,in which American scholars and authors participated.
It is an unlooked-for result of the study to be able to unearth the creative process of The Teahosue of the August Moon, the most famous story set on Okinawa written by Vern Sneider, by analyzing the primary sources at the Sneider Archive in Monroe County Historical Museum.
I presented papers at the conferences in Okinawa and the USA and got some of them published in Okinawa.

Free Research Field

アメリカ文学