Research Catalog

Title

The awakening of modern Japanese fiction : path literature and an interpretation of Buddhism / Michihiro Ama.

Author

Ama, Michihiro

Publication

• Albany : State University of New York Press, [2021]
• ©2021

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xi, 342 pages; 24 cm

Summary

• "Argues that the role of Buddhism in modern Japanese prose literature has been significantly overlooked"--
• "The Awakening of Modern Japanese Fiction is the first book to treat the literary practices of certain major modern Japanese writers as Buddhist practices, and to read their work as Buddhist literature. Its distinctive contribution is its focus on modern literature and, importantly, modern Buddhism, which Michihiro Ama presents both as existing in continuity with the historical Buddhist tradition and as having unique features of its own. Ama corrects the dominant perception in which the Christian practice of confession has been accepted as the primary informing source of modern Japanese prose literature, arguing instead that the practice has always been a part of Shin Buddhist culture. Focusing on personal fiction, this volume explores the works of literary figures and Buddhist priests who, challenged by the modern development of Japan, turned to Buddhism in a variety of ways and used literature as a vehicle for transforming their sense of selfhood. Writers discussed include Natsume Sōseki, Tayama Katai, Shiga Naoya, Kiyozawa Manshi, and Akegarasu Haya. By bringing Buddhism out of the shadows of early twentieth-century Japanese literature and elucidating its presence in both individual authors' lives and the genre of autobiographical fiction, The Awakening of Modern Japanese Fiction demonstrates a more nuanced understanding of the role of Buddhism in the development of Japanese modernity."--

Subject

• 1912-1926
• Japanese fiction > Taishō period, 1912-1926 > History and criticism
• Buddhist literature > History and criticism
• Buddhism in literature
• Buddhism and literature > Japan
• Buddhism and literature
• Buddhist literature
• Japanese fiction > Taishō period
• Japan

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-332) and index.

Contents

A disciplinary divide and the conceptual framework of the present Study -- Part 1. Writing personal fiction as a confessional and religious practice. Modern Japanese writers as lay Buddhist practitioners -- Ari no mama as literary and Buddhist discourse -- Shin Buddhist confession and literary practice -- A Shin Buddhist historical novel -- Part 2. The Buddhist reading of personal fiction. Buddhist words and Buddhist symbols in personal novels -- Buddhist attainment and mystical experience -- Literary representations of Buddhist funerals -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1: Translation of the Preface to Before and after My Rebirth by Akegarasu Haya -- Appendix 2: Translation of the Preface to Guardians of the Dharma Castle by Matsuoka Yuzuru.

Call Number

JFE 21-6580

ISBN

• 9781438481418
• 1438481411

LCCN

• 2020023297
• 40030445015

OCLC

1157349805

Author

Ama, Michihiro, author.

Title

The awakening of modern Japanese fiction : path literature and an interpretation of Buddhism / Michihiro Ama.

Publisher

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2021]

Copyright Date

©2021

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-332) and index.

Chronological Term

1912-1926

Other Form:

Online version: Ama, Michihiro, The awakening of modern Japanese fiction Albany : State University of New York, 2021. 9781438481432 (DLC) 2020023298

Other Standard Identifier

40030445015

Research Call Number

JFE 21-6580