Description
The first full-length book devoted to Japan's 1994 Nobel Laureate, The Marginal World of Kenzaburo Ôe introduces the literary universe bursting with the explosive energies of Bakhtinian grotesque realism. In its center stands the "idiot son," a trickster and soulful healer, unknowingly thrown into the world of myth-making and history. The diverse voices of Ôe's characters resonate with one another within and between reinvented texts as the book's analysis flow into the very pores and veins of his masterful writing.
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION 2 THE ADVENTURES OF TWO BROTHERS: LINKING THE NOVEL AND REALITY 3 OCCUPIED JAPAN: TALES OF A GIGOLO 4 THE IMAGE OF AN EMBATTLED CULTURAL HERO AND PICARESQUE NARRATIVE 5 A NARRATIVE OF SIMULTANEITY: THE FOOTBALL GAME OF THE FIRST YEAR OF MANEN 6 THE DEVICE OF REPETITION: IN QUEST OF DIALOGIC NARRATIVE 7 IMAGINATION OF GROTESQUE REALISM 8 IN SEARCH OF LIMINAL SPACE AND TIME: THE GAME OF CONTEMPORANEITY
