Featuring choice selections from the core anthologies The Columbia
Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature: From Restoration to Occupation,
1868-1945, and The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature:
From 1945 to the Present, this collection offers a concise yet
remarkably rich introduction to the fiction, poetry, drama, and essays
of Japan's modern encounter with the West. Spanning a period of
exceptional invention and transition, this volume is not only a critical
companion to courses on Japanese literary and intellectual development
but also an essential reference for scholarship on Japanese history,
culture, and interactions with the East and West.
The first half covers the three major styles of literary expression that
informed Japanese writing and performance in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries: classical Japanese fiction and drama, Chinese
poetry, and Western literary representation and cultural critique. Their
juxtaposition brilliantly captures the social, intellectual, and
political challenges shaping Japan during this period, particularly the
rise of nationalism, the complex interaction between traditional and
modern forces, and the encroachment of Western ideas and writing. The
second half conveys the changes that have transformed Japan since the
end of the Pacific War, such as the heady transition from poverty to
prosperity, the friction between conflicting ideologies and political
beliefs, and the growing influence of popular culture on the country's
artistic and intellectual traditions. Featuring sensitive translations
of works by Nagai Kafu, Natsume Soseki, Oe Kenzaburo, Kawabata Yasunari,
Mishima Yukio, and many others, this anthology relates an essential
portrait of Japan's dynamic modernization.
