Johnson in Japan

KIMIYO OGAWA is a professor in the department of English studies at Sophia University in Tokyo. Her publications include book chapters on Charlotte Lennox in British Romanticism in European Perspectives and on Jane Austen and Yaeko Nogami in British Romanticism in Asia.MIKA SUZUKI is a professor in the department of language and literature at Shizuoka University in Shizuoka, Japan. Her publications include journal articles on Sarah Fielding and on Jane Austen and a book on Sarah Fielding in Japanese.

"In conveying the 'state of play' of Johnson's reputation in a world that might not previously have been thought receptive, Johnson in Japan makes a significant mark . . . successful in offering new critical insights, its presence means that there are important implications for Johnson's cultural penetration (and therefore the kind of writer he is)."— Philip Smallwood, author of Johnson's Critical Presence: Image, History, Judgment"Samuel Johnson was fascinated by travel, and the Orient particularly took his fancy. He once seriously recommended that Boswell undertake a trip to see the Great Wall of China, because it would distinguish him in the eyes of other Britons. More recently, the East has reciprocated this interest, as scholars in Japan and China formed Johnsonian societies and published important books and articles on the Great Cham. Johnson in Japan draws together a number of intriguing and valuable essays under a rubric that is original and persuasive. It at once advances our knowledge of the intersection between Johnson and the East forward considerably, yet it perhaps more urgently encourages that Western scholars explore this richly fertile yet largely untapped field with greater assiduity."— Anthony Lee, author of Community and Solitude: New Essays on Johnson's Circle"It is a pleasure to read these essays, eloquently written, informative and free of jargon."— The New Rambler"To publish contemporary critical essays together with the historical review of Johnson studies makes an important statement about the vibrancy of Johnson scholarship, past and present, in Japan."— Lisa Berglund, Eighteenth Century Fiction"Samuel Johnson was fascinated by travel, and the Orient particularly took his fancy. He once seriously recommended that Boswell undertake a trip to see the Great Wall of China, because it would distinguish him in the eyes of other Britons. More recently, the East has reciprocated this interest, as scholars in Japan and China formed Johnsonian societies and published important books and articles on the Great Cham. Johnson in Japan draws together a number of intriguing and valuable essays under a rubric that is original and persuasive. It at once advances our knowledge of the intersection between Johnson and the East forward considerably, yet it perhaps more urgently encourages that Western scholars explore this richly fertile yet largely untapped field with greater assiduity."— Anthony Lee, author of Community and Solitude: New Essays on Johnson's Circle"It is a pleasure to read these essays, eloquently written, informative and free of jargon."— The New Rambler"In conveying the 'state of play' of Johnson's reputation in a world that might not previously have been thought receptive, Johnson in Japan makes a significant mark . . . successful in offering new critical insights, its presence means that there are important implications for Johnson's cultural penetration (and therefore the kind of writer he is)."— Philip Smallwood, author of Johnson's Critical Presence: Image, History, Judgment"To publish contemporary critical essays together with the historical review of Johnson studies makes an important statement about the vibrancy of Johnson scholarship, past and present, in Japan."— Lisa Berglund, Eighteenth Century Fiction

• List of Figures and Tables                                                                             Foreword by Greg Clingham                                                                         Note on Reference                                                                                         Introduction                                                                                                   Chapter 1: A Brief History of Johnsonian Studies in Japan                          Hideichi Eto                                                                                                   Chapter 2: Johnson, Biography, and Modern Japan                                      Noriyuki Harada                                                                                                        Chapter 3: Scientific Curiosity in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Kimiyo Ogawa                                                 Chapter 4: Jane Austen and the Reception of Samuel Johnson in Japan:The Domestication of Realism in Soseki Natsume's Theory of Literature (1907)                           Yuri Yoshino                                                                          Chapter 5: Johnson the Tea Poet: A Scholarly Role Model and a Literary Doctor in Modernizing Japan                                                  Mika Suzuki                                                                                      Chapter 6: Johnson and Garrick on Hamlet                                                  Miki Iwata     Chapter 7: Abyssinian Johnson                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Noriyuki Hattori                                                                                            Chapter 8: Johnson's Prose Style and His Notion of the Periodical WriterTadayuki Fukumoto                                                                                      Chapter 9: An Analysis of Johnson's View of Knowledge: A Corpus Stylistic ApproachMasaaki OguraChapter 10: Johnson's Final Words: With Particular Reference to Boswell's Dirty Deed on Sastres                                         Hitoshi Suwabe                                                                                                           Appendix                                                                                                       Acknowledgments                                                                                         Bibliography                                                                                                  Notes on Contributors                                                                       Index