Fate, Nature, and Literary Form

Kinya Nishi is a professor of aesthetics and intellectual history at Konan University, Japan. He has published books and articles exploring the discursive formation of cultural tradition in the context of modern Japan. He has held visiting research positions at the University of Sussex and Queen Mary, University of London.

“Fate, Nature and Literary Form is a concise and engaging book about how tragic art manifests in different times and places and what role critical theory can play in our understanding of this genre’s power and appeal… In this compact yet powerful work, Nishi argues that great art can never be merely the expression of the timeless essence of a particular culture but must be part of a forward movement leading to enhanced human relationships…[The book] offer[s] a unique and innovative blend of theoretical musings and provocative insights into the contributions of several major Japanese literary figures whose work cannot be meaningfully interpreted apart from the historical context in which they are rooted. I applaud this effort and find the book both rewarding and stimulating.”– Ronald P. Loftus, Japanese Language and Literature (Vol. 56, No. 1)

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefacePart One: The Historical Development of the Tragic in Japanese Literature1. Approaching the Idea of Tragedy in the Non-West                                                     2. Tragic Dramaturgy in Classical Japanese Theatera.) Zeamib.) Chikamatsu Monzaemon3. Tragic Individualism in Modern Japanese Fictiona.) Natsume Sōsekib.) Ōe KenzaburōPart Two: The Dialectics of Nature in Japanese Intellectual History4. The Dilemma of Multicultural Aesthetics5. Japanese Modernity and the Cultural Configuration of Naturea.) Naturalism and National Identityb.) From Protest to Conformismc.) The Return of the Mother in Postwar CriticismPart Three: Social Crisis and Literary Form6. Matsuo Bashō’s Realism7. Hiroshima and the Poetics of Death8. Narrative after FukushimaBibliographyIndex