Shibata Renzaburō and the Reinvention of Modernism in Postwar Japanese Popular Literature (East Asian Popular Culture)

Vorobiev, Artem

Palgrave Macmillan（2023/11発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 231 p.
• 商品コード 9783031111945

Description

(Text)

Shibata Renzabur and the Reinvention of Modernism in Postwar Japanese Popular Literature explores the life and work of Shibata Renzabur ( , 1917-1978), the author of adventure and historical novels who was instrumental in reinvigorating popular Japanese literature in the postwar period. This book considers postwar Japanese society through the prism of Shibata's writing, exploring how the postwar period under SCAP Occupation influenced Shibata's writing and generated the extraordinary popularity of samurai fiction in the postwar era at large. Through the use of a nihilistic warrior, Nemuri Ky shir , and other samurai characters, Shibata Renzabur addresses important social issues of the day, such as the trauma of defeat, postwar reconstruction, and the attending societal ills and neuroses, while keeping his literature entertaining and easy to read, which ensured its mass appeal in postwar Japan.


(Table of content)

1. Introduction.- 2. Early Life and and Formative Years.- 3. War and Postwar Experience.- 4. Fame: The Nemuri Ky shir Phenomenon.- 5. Shibata Renzabur 's Other Works.- 6. Conclusion.

(Author portrait)

Artem Vorobiev is Lecturer in Japanese at the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at The Ohio State University, USA.