TY - BOOK ID - 77914118 TI - Shock and naturalization in contemporary Japanese literature. PY - 2007 SN - 1281805785 9786611805784 9004213481 9789004213487 9781905246298 1905246293 9781281805782 6611805788 PB - Folkestone Global oriental DB - UniCat KW - Japanese literature KW - History and criticism. KW - J4144 KW - J5509 KW - J5930 KW - J5931 KW - History and criticism KW - Japan: Sociology and anthropology -- cultural trends and movements -- modernism KW - Japan: Literature -- theory, methodology and philosophy KW - Japan: Literature -- modern fiction and prose (1868- ) KW - Japan: Literature -- modern fiction and prose (1868- ) -- criticism UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:77914118 AB - This study introduces the concepts of naturalization and naturalized modernity, and uses them as tools for understanding the way modernity has been experienced and portrayed in Japanese literature since the end of the Second World War. Special emphasis is given to four leading post-war writers – Kawabata Yasunari, Abe Kobo, Murakami Haruki and Murakami Ryu. The author argues that notions of ‘shock’ in modern city life in Japan (as exemplified in the writings of Walter Benjamin and George Simmel), while present in the work of older Japanese writers, do not appear to hold true in much contemporary Japanese literature: it is as if the ‘shock’ impact of change has evolved as a ‘naturalized’ or ‘Japanized’ process. The author focuses on the implications of this phenomenon, both in the context of the theory of modernity and as an opportunity to reevaluate the works of his chosen writers. ER -