Writing Histories of Japanese Literature for Western Readers
Organised by Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Research Area 2: "Travelling Matters
In the past decade or so, the profile of Japanese literature has shifted along with the role of literature at a global level and as a result of new approaches to translation and a fresh perspective on Japanese culture in the context of changed mediascapes. The history of modern and pre-modern Japanese literature is currently being rewritten in the West, including in Italy, France, Germany, Scandinavia and in the Anglophone region (with 'Western' here referring to European languages). The workshop intends to bring together leading scholars to compare and discuss their concepts, designs and specificities against the backdrop of culture-specific readerships, translation policies, publishers' demands and new trends in Japanese literary historiography, etc. The workshop is conceived as a first brainstorming session to inquire into meaningful further meta-research on the mechanisms of representing Japanese (and eventually other) literatures, their underlying mechanisms and consequences for the perception and appreciation of literature in the 21st century.
The project has relevant links to RA 1 with respect to 'community' and 'communication', in terms of exploring modes of conceptualising 'literary history' for different language-based communities and in relation to their 'object' ('Japanese literature'). It is situated in RA 2, questioning the genre of literary history as a process of semantic coding and as media. It is central to RA 3 because it addresses historiography (and anthologising) as a practice 'through which the temporalities of literature are re-written and re-constituted', and also to RA 4, as it focuses on canon (re-)formation, the circulation of texts and the economic dimensions of this circulation.
Preliminary programme
Thursday, 12 October 2023
14:00-14:30 | Registration
14:30-15:00 | Welcome and introduction
Panel 1 Afternoon Session
Moderation: Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit (Freie Universität Berlin)
15:00-16:00 | Cécile Sakai (Université Paris Cité): How to Write a History of Contemporary Japanese Literature for French Readers? Questioning Historiography, Legitimacy, and Purposes Today
16:00-16:30 | Coffee break
16:30-17:30 | John Treat (Yale University): National History After the Nation
17:30-19:00 | Tzvetana Kristeva (ICU Tokyo): Writing Histories of Japanese Literature in Japan
Friday, 13 October 2023
Panel 2 Morning Session
09:30-10:30 | Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit: Outdated and Dispensable? Histories of Japanese Literature for Readers of German
10:30-11:00 | Coffee break
11:00-12:00 | Carolina Negri (Università Ca' Foscari Venice): In Search of the Classics - The Projekt of a New History of Japanese Literature in Italy
12:00-12:30 | 1 or 2 "Interventions"
13:00-15:00 | Lunch
Panel 3 Afternoon Session
15:00-16:00 | Luisa Bienati (Università Ca' Foscari Venice): The Project of a New History of Japanese Literature in Italy: Modern and Contemporary Japanese Literature
16:00-17:00 | Daniel Struve (Université Paris Cité): Introducing Early Modern Japanese Literature in France
17:00-17:30 | Coffee break
17:30-18:00 | Judit Árokay (Universität Heidelberg): Thoughts on Re-Writing the History of Pre-modern/Classical Japanese Literature for Contemporary German Readers
Saturday, 14 October 2023
Panel 4 Morning Session
09.30-10:30 | Reiko Abe Auestad (Universitetet i Oslo): Japanese Literature in Translation: Tools of Literary Politics in Norway
10:30-11:00 | Coffee break
11:00-11:30 | 1 or 2 "Interventions"
11:30-12:30 | Final discussion
Time & Location
Oct 12, 2023 - Oct 14, 2023
Cluster Building
Room 00.05
Otto-von-Simson-Straße 15
14195 Berlin