The Rhetoric of Confession: <i>Shishosetsu</i> in Early Twentieth-Century Japanese Fiction

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University of California Press, 1. sept 2023 - 364 pages
The shishosetsu is a Japanese form of autobiographical fiction that flourished during the first two decades of this century. Focusing on the works of Chikamatsu Shuko, Shiga Naoya, and Kasai Zenzo, Edward Fowler explores the complex and paradoxical nature of shishosetsu, and discusses its linguistic, literary and cultural contexts.

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Contents

Fictions and Fabrications
3
Language and the Illusion of Presence
28
Shishosetsu Criticism and the Myth of Sincerity
43
THE RISE OF A FORM
71
Harbingers I Tokoku Doppo Hogetsu
73
Harbingers II Katai Homei
103
The Bundan Readers Writers Critics
128
THREE APPROACHES TO EXPERIENCE
147
Chikamatsu Shuko The Hero as Fool
149
Shiga Naoya The Hero as Sage
187
Kasai Zenzo The Hero as Victim
248
The Shishosetsu Today
290
Bibliography
299
Index
315
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About the author (2023)

Edward Fowler teaches in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of California, Irvine.

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