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Help finding books for my PhD dissertation
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Hello! Maybe look Into The Breaking Jewel, (1998) by Makoto Oda. It follows the last days of WWII. One of the main characters, Corporal Kon is a Korean who fights for Japan. At the very least there is a nice short write up inside the novel that gives some context about Japan's annex of Korea.
Masuji Ibuse's "Black Rain" is an acclaimed novel about the bombing of Hiroshima...it was published in Japan in 1966, and even though it seems that there is a basis in the real experiences of people who survived the bombing, it is technically a work of fiction. Maybe it would fit in with the criteria for PhD topic?
This might veto early, published 1958, but I rec this very highly: Nip The Buds, Shoot The Kidsby Kenzaburō Ōe
Or: Popular Hits of the Showa Era
by Ryū Murakami, Ralph McCarthy (Translator)
Or: Remote Control
by Kotaro Isaka, Stephen Snyder (Translator)
Or: 20th Century Boys, Volume 1: Friends (20th Century Boys #1)
by Naoki Urasawa
Or: Parasite Eve
by Hideaki Sena
Or: Battle Royale
by Koushun Takami
Or: Ghost in the Shell (Ghost in the Shell #1)
by Masamune Shirow
Or: Coin Locker Babies
by Ryū Murakami, Stephen Snyder (Translator)
... And there is a great short story called 'Prize Stock', about a captured black American soldier, but do not know where I read it, think it is by Oe Kenzaburo...
"Prize Stock"Yes, it's Kenzaburo Oe and I'd go for the John Nathan translation and not the John Bester.
It sounds to me that most of Oe's stuff would be relevant to this work, in particular "The Silent Cry", "Teach Us To Outgrow Our Madness", "J" ...
I am currently preparing my proposal for my PhD and I desperately need help finding titles for my topic.
I want to do an analysis of political violence (war, occupation and sublimation) in contemporary Japanese literature, 60's onwards. There's lots of books, you may think, but here's the thing. I'm doing an investigation on fictitious/metaphorical depictions. Think Murakami Ryû's From the Fatherland with Love, which tells the story of a North Korean invasion of Japan. Or Abe Kôbô's Intruders, where a strange family enters the flat of the main character and occupies it, even making him their servant. Even science fiction will do.
If you guys have any ideas, please let me know! I would really appreciate it.
Thanks!