Queer Fiction in contemporary japan - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Queer Fiction in contemporary japan

Naoko OHRI

WGS M.A. Program

Introduction to L&G/Q Studies

5/3/2018

contents

Why Japanese Queer Fiction?

The Purpose of This Course (*See the syllabus handed out)

The List of Texts

Other Readings

Schedule (*See the syllabus)

Assignments and Grading (*See the syllabus)

Why Japanese Queer Fiction?

Personal Reasons

Discipline:

Literary Criticism

(Feminist Criticism in American Literature)

Cultural Background: International Student from Japan

Japanese Queer Fiction As An Open Educational Resource

Rapid Progress in Queer Fiction in Japan in the Past 25 years

Japanese Contemporary Literature Begun to be Released in Global Markets

The List of Texts (overview)

Is My List

Too Straight

and

Feminist for Queer Studies Courses

?

Matsuura’s lesbianism,

Natural Woman

(1991) (*not translated in English)

Kirino’s

assumption of a masculine name as an author

Women’s Preponderance in Queer Fiction

Characteristics Shared Among the Authors Selected

Critical views of heteronormativity, the objectification of women’s sexuality, and the

normative form of family arrangement

The Peculiar Significance of

The Waiting Years

To

get a basic understanding of how and since when normative sexuality in modern Japan has been formulated

Text 1 Matsuura

The Apprenticeship of Big Toe P

It

is “

the story of a

young Japanese woman who wakes up one afternoon to discover that her big toe has turned into a penis. After fleeing from her homophobic fiancé, she falls in love with a bisexual blind pianist who accepts her for whom she is, and together they join a troupe of performers----all sexually deformed and emotionally twisted men and women.” ----Amazon.

com.

Queer Sexuality As a Kind of DisabilityDisable People’s Historical Contribution to The Birth of Show Business→ Theoretical Reading: Tobin Siebers, “Disability as Masquerade” (*Provided by Professor Brim in Dropbox)

Text 2

Kirino

Grotesque

Out (

Kodansha International, 2003)

*Translated in English by Stephen Snyder. The original was published in Japan in 1997

and won a Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1998 Grotesque Narrative From A Variety of Perspectives, Like That of Ryunosuke AKUTAGAWA’s Rashomon (1915) and Its Adaptation by Film Director Akira KUROSAWA (1950)

A Graphic Description of

Grotesque

Destinations of The Objectification of Sexuality in Postmodern Japan

→

Theoretical Reading: Susan K Gardner, “Coming out of the Sexual

Harassment Closet” (*Find in Dropbox. I took it up in my earlier presentation)

Text 3 NISHIKAWA Dreams for Sale

What is So Queer About This Film?

The husband selling himself for money and

his wife playing the role of a prostitution operator

An exploration of gender roles in sexuality and

a candid representation of a woman’s sexual desire

→Comparison with American Queer Fiction: John Keene, 　　　　　　　　　　　　“An Outtake of the Ideological Origins of 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

the American Revolution” (*Provided by Prof. Brim in Dropbox)

Text 4NISHIKAWA The Long Excuse

It is “the love story of a man who had no tears to cry

when his wife died. Sachio, who is with another woman

when his wife and a friend die

en

route to a ski resort,

has no choice but to act the part of a grieving husband. 　　　　　　　　　　Meeting Yoichi, the truly desolated truck-driver husband of his wife’s friend, he volunteers to help look after Yoichi’s 　　　　　　　　　　two young children. He discovers the pleasure of being useful, 　　　　　　　　and his own existence takes on new meaning.” ----Amazon. com.What is So Queer About This Film? Sachio and Yoichi As Mock Gay Couple With Kids

An Exploration of Alternative

Intimate

Communities of the Family

Text 5ENCHI

The Waiting Years (1/2)

The heroine spent her whole life denying herself for the sake of her family, but in her perception, her sacrifice is for something what is greater good. “A “A remarkable woman in the turn of the nineteenth century, she manages the family household, oversees various land holdings without the aid of her husband or an education, and provides for many, in spite of the restrictions of her life.”----Amazon. com.

Text 5ENCHI The Waiting Years (2/2)

What Is the Good of This Novel In Queer Studies Courses?

Utility as a kind of Anthropological Material which gives us readers a basic knowledge of What Things Were on the Eve of the Beginning of the Modernization of Sexuality in Japan

→

Theoretical Reading:

Saskia

Guckenburg

. "The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi: Gender Roles in Japanese Society During the Turn of the 19th Century”

Other Readings

To Provide Contexts and Theoretical Frameworks

To Provide Objects of Comparison

Key Words Shared Among the Readings and Connecting them with Texts I discussed Disability, Disguise, Social Hierarchy, and Picaresque Roman

Recommended Texts

Classics In American Queer Fiction

and

One More Piece of Contemporary Japanese Queer Fiction As Further Objects of Comparison and Options to Make Use of for Assignments

Thank you for your attention

Naoko OHRI