Time: April 6th, 12:00-2:00 pm
Venue: C. K. Choi Building, Room 120
Abstract:
It is not well known that Brazil is home to the largest number of persons of Japanese descent outside of Japan itself, with a population that likely exceeds that of the United States. Still less known is the fact that this population possesses a century-long history of not only consuming Japanese-language literature, but also producing it. This talk will present a brief overview of this history, with a focus on its early decades (1908-1941), and then consider ways that this history prompts us to reconsider many of the tacit and explicit presumptions that underlie the field of modern Japanese literature.
About the Speaker:
Edward Mack teaches modern Japanese literature and film at the University of Washington. His book, _Manufacturing Modern Japanese Literature_, examines the relationship between the concept of a national literature and the publishing industry. His current project is on the reading and writing of literature in the Japanese immigrant community in Brazil prior to the Second World War.