Western Writers in Japan

by S. Okada

Overview

This book relates the experiences of a range of Western writers who went to Japan as teachers and lecturers, covering a period of over 100 years. It discusses East-West cultural differences; Western 'individualism' encountering Japanese 'formal' society; and draws on the author's interviews with many of the writers featured. It includes some hitherto unpublished correspondence, as well as comments on their published works. The author hopes her book will encourage a deeper understanding between East and West.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333721742
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	11/25/1998
Edition description:	1999
Pages:	185
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

SUMIE OKADA is the author of Edmund Blunden and Japan, published by Macmillan in 1988, the Japanese version of which appeared in 1995. These books were widely and well reviewed in both England and Japan. She has taught at several universities in Japan, and lectured on Japanese culture in Cambridge, UK. Having studied at Oxford University as a Recognised Student under Professor John Bayley, and also under the late Professor Richard Ellmann, she received an M Litt degree from Cambridge University in 1985. She was also an Arthur Prowse Research Fellow at Durham University in 1991, and now teaches English literature and comparative culture at Immaculate Heart University in Kagoshima, Japan, while doing research based in Cambridge during vacations.

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction Lafcadio Hearn: the First Great Literary Emissary from the West PART TWO: BETWEEN THE WARS William Plomer: East-West Relationships William Empson: 'Unresolved Conflicts'? PART THREE: POST WORLD WAR II G. S.Fraser: a Westerner's Analysis of Haiku James Kirkup and D.J. Enright: a Humanitarian Mission? Anthony Thwaite, Two Decades a Generation Apart Stephen Spender: a Traveller Through Japan PART FOUR: THEMES AND VARIATIONS Homosexuality and Japan Cultural Differences Natsume Soseki: Western Individualism and the Japanese Society PART FIVE: INTERVIEWS AND EPILOGUE Iris Murdoch: Her Interest in Zen Buddhism Laurens van der Post: the Virtue of Forgiveness Epilogue References Index