Romit Dasgupta | The University of Western Australia (original) (raw)
Papers by Romit Dasgupta
Asia Pacific Perspectives, 2017
This paper looks at Japan over the Shôwa (1925—1989) and post-Shôwa, Heisei (1989—) periods throu... more This paper looks at Japan over the Shôwa (1925—1989) and post-Shôwa, Heisei (1989—) periods through the discourse of masculinity embodied in the urban, middle-class white-collar " salaryman. " As a sort of " Everyman " of corporate Japan, particularly over the 1960s-1990s, the salaryman came to signify both Japanese masculinity in general, and more specifically Japanese corporate culture. In this regard the discourse of masculinity signified by the salaryman could have been regarded as the culturally privileged hegemonic masculinity. Moreover, despite the corporate re-structurings and socioeconomic and cultural shifts in Japan since the 1990s, the salaryman continues to be pivotal to the ways in which Japanese corporate culture, Japanese masculinity, and indeed Japanese national identity continue to be framed. This paper traces the emergence of the discourse of the salaryman in the first decades of the twentieth century, its entrenchment in the post-World War II (postwar) decades as the hegemonic blueprint for Japanese masculinity, and its apparent fragmentation over the decades of economic slowdown since the 1990s.
Genders, Transgenders and Sexualities in Japan, 2006
Popular Culture in Asia, 2013
Men, Masculinities and Methodologies, 2013
Asian Currents, Feb 17, 2015
Asian Currents is the monthly newsletter of The Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA). Ou... more Asian Currents is the monthly newsletter of The Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA). Our primary objective is to promote and support the study of Asia in Australia, the region and beyond. We are interested in linking up with institutions, Asian Studies organizations, and independent researchers who are discovering and exploring knowledge of Asia.
Japanese Studies, 2011
In this article I discuss the ways in which the 2008 film Tokyo Sonata engages with the contrasti... more In this article I discuss the ways in which the 2008 film Tokyo Sonata engages with the contrasting emotional and physical geographies of comfortable suburbia and the contemporary reality of socio-cultural despondency. The Sasaki family is the embodiment of the quintessential nuclear family of urban, middle-class Japan. Their world starts unravelling the day the father, Sasaki Ryūhei, is laid off from his middle-management job. Unwilling to reveal this to his family, Ryūhei continues to leave for work each morning dressed in his suit, but spends his days in a park inhabited by homeless men. Ultimately, he finds employment as a cleaner in a shopping mall. Ryūhei's journey from white-collar salaryman to menial worker is set against the backdrop of collective anxiety in the intermeshing physical and emotional ‘scapes’ of recession-era Tokyo. I argue that, at the core, this is an anxiety about the loss of masculine authority in the home and the workplace, and at the level of Japan as a nation. Moreover, it is an anxiety that cannot be fully appreciated without reference to the framing social, cultural, economic and emotional topographies of post-bubble Japan.
"Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific", Issue 23 , Jan 2010
Culture, Society and Masculinities, 2009
This paper is an overview of the shifts in discourses of masculinity in Japan at a particularly c... more This paper is an overview of the shifts in discourses of masculinity in Japan at a particularly crucial period in that country's recent history-the 1990s and the early 2000s. It contends that without a proper appreciation of the significance of these years, it is next to impossible to get a sense of the socio-cultural, economic, and political dynamics of Japan today. Japan's "Lost Decade" (ushinawareta jûnen, in Japanese) 1 pertains to a period of economic slowdown, corporate restructurings, and rising unemployment rates, coupled with a growing sense of collective socio-cultural insecurity and anxiety (Shimokawa, 2006, pp. 3-11). These years followed in the wake of several decades of consistent economic growth from the 1950s until the "bubble" economy boom years of the 1980s, during the course of which Japan had emerged as a major industrial superpower, and in many respects had become something of a global economic role model for developing nations. The bursting of the largely real estate and speculation-driven "bubble" boom in the early 1990s, however, put an end to these economic "glory years" and ushered in a period of prolonged economic ABSTRACT The "Lost Decade" of the 1990s, extending into the early 2000s, was a particularly crucial period in Japan's recent history. On the one hand, these years were characterized by significant economic and social upheaval. At the same time, these years were witness to increasing challenges in the public sphere to societally dominant discourses, including those relating to gender, and in particular, masculinity. This paper provides an overview of the shifts in discourses of masculinity over these years. It contends that an understanding of the changes that occurred during the "Lost Decade" is necessary in order to appreciate the dynamics of men's lives in Japan today.
Asia Research Institute (ARI) Working Paper Series, 2009
Japanese Studies, 2000
It is early M arch, in the sm all city of Furano, located (so it is claim ed) right at the center... more It is early M arch, in the sm all city of Furano, located (so it is claim ed) right at the center of the northern island of Hokkaido. To all appearances the city is typical of sm all-town Japan, slowly bleeding to death through de-population and econom ic recessionÐ not exactly the ideal place to begin a discussion of the`salarym an' and corporate culture. However, the city is hom e to a theatrical group, the Furano Juku, which has received considerable national acclaim since its creation ® fteen years ago. 1 Th e perform ance a friend and I have driven over an hour through another one of H okkaido' s seem ingly never-ending blizzards to see is entitled`Hashiru' (literally,`to run' ). In keeping with the title, the central them e of the play is a m arathon race; those participating are young m en and wom en, som e taking part for th e ® rst tim e and others who were unable to com plete the course the previous year. O n one level, the m arathon is the entire playÐ actors keep running while going through the dialogue. O n another level, the m arathon that is the play serves as an allegory for another race: the post-W orld W ar Tw o econom ic race of industrial-capitalist Japan, where individuals, fam ilies, organizations, indeed the whole of society, kept running in pursuit of goals which becam e increasingly m eaningless.
Books by Romit Dasgupta
(edited collection) The middle-class nuclear family model has long dominated discourses on famil... more (edited collection)
The middle-class nuclear family model has long dominated discourses on family in Japan. Yet there have always been multiple configurations of family and kinship, which, in the context of significant socio-economic and demographic shifts since the 1990s, have become increasingly visible in public discourse. This book explores the meanings and practices of "family" in Japan, and brings together research by scholars of literature, gender studies, media and cultural studies, sociology and anthropology. While the primary focus is the "Japanese" family, it also examines the experience and practice of family beyond the borders of Japan, in such settings as Brazil, Australia, and Bali. The chapters explore key issues such as ageing, single households, non-heterosexual living arrangements and parenting. Moreover, many of the issues addressed, such as the growing diversity of family, the increase in single-person households, and the implications of an ageing society, are applicable to other mature, late-industrial societies.
Employing both multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches, this book combines textual analysis of contemporary television, film, literature, manga, anime and other media with empirical and ethnographic studies of families in Japan and in transnational spaces. As such, it will be of great interest to students and scholars working across a number of fields including Japanese culture and society, sociology of family, gender studies, film and media studies, literature and cultural studies, and gerontology
This volume brings together research by scholars from history, literature, gender studies, cultur... more This volume brings together research by scholars from history, literature, gender studies, cultural studies, and sociology/anthropology on the meanings and practices of "family", both within the nation-state of "Japan" and in transnational spaces. While the majority of the chapters focus on contemporary society, others look at family in the late-nineteenth/early-twentieth century and the immediate post-World War II years, and its significance to the ensuing periods. Again, while the book’s main focus is the "Japanese" family, some chapters discuss the experience and practice of family beyond the borders of Japan, in such settings as Brazil, Australia, and Bali.
The contributors draw on a broad range of methodological approaches, including oral history, interview-based and ethnographic research, official discourse analysis, literary analysis, and analysis of visual culture. Such an interdisciplinary approach means that this book will be of great interest to students and scholars working across a number of fields including Japanese culture and society, sociology of family, gender studies, film and media studies, literature and cultural studies, Japanese/Asian studies and gerontology.
In Japan, the figure of the suited, white-collar office worker or business executive ‘salaryman’ ... more In Japan, the figure of the suited, white-collar office worker or business executive ‘salaryman’ (or, sarariiman), came to be associated with Japan’s economic transformation following World War Two. The ubiquitous salaryman came to signify both Japanese masculinity, and Japanese corporate culture, and in this sense, the salaryman embodied ‘the archetypal citizen’.
This book uses the figure of the salaryman to explore masculinity in Japan by examining the salaryman as a gendered construct. Whilst there is a considerable body of literature on Japanese corporate culture and a growing acknowledgement of the role of gender, until now the focus has been almost exclusively on women in the workplace. In contrast, this book is one of the first to focus on the men within Japanese corporate culture through a gendered lens. Not only does this add to the emerging literature on masculinity in Japan, but given the important role Japanese corporate culture has played in Japan’s emergence as an industrial power, Romit Dasgupta’s research offers a new way of looking both at Japanese business culture, and more generally at important changes in Japanese society in recent years.
Based on intensive interviews carried out with young male private sector employees in Japan, this book makes an important contribution to the study of masculinity and Japanese corporate culture, in addition to providing an insight into Japanese culture more generally. As such it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Japanese studies, Japanese society and gender studies.
Incorporating Japanese language materials and field-based research, this compelling collection of... more Incorporating Japanese language materials and field-based research, this compelling collection of essays takes a comparative look at the changing notions of gender and sexual diversity in Japan, considering both heterosexual and non-heterosexual histories, lifestyles and identities.
Written by key Japanese authors and Western scholars the volume examines how non-conformist individuals have questioned received notions and challenged social norms relating to sex and gender. The chapters depict the plurality of gender positions; from housewives opposed to gender roles within marriage to heterosexual men wishing to be more involved in family life. Including material not previously published in English, this volume gives an overview of the important changes taking place in gender and sexuality studies within Japanese scholarship.
Book Chapters by Romit Dasgupta
This chapter draws attention to the intersections and collisions between discourses of work, masc... more This chapter draws attention to the intersections and collisions between discourses of work, masculinity, and sexuality in the context of Japanese corporate culture. Despite significant socio-cultural shifts over recent decades the discourse of the middle-class, white-collar heterosexual ‘salaryman’ continues to be a signifier for Japanese corporate masculinity, and indeed, for Japanese masculinity as a whole. Yet, the reality is that there are salarymen who may not be heterosexual, but nevertheless need to engage on a day-to-day basis with the heteronormative ideological expectations of corporate masculinity. This chapter, drawing on interviews with individual salarymen who identify as non-heterosexual, explores the complex relationship between the publicly articulated heteronormative ideology of the workplace, and the day-to-day micro-negotiations with the expectations of this ideology by non-heterosexual individuals.
Kazuo Ishiguro in a Global Context (ed. Cynthia Wong and Hülya Yıldız), Apr 2015
This chapter explores the relationship between Kazuo Ishiguro and Japan and notions of ‘Japanese-... more This chapter explores the relationship between Kazuo Ishiguro and Japan and notions of ‘Japanese-ness’. Despite having left Japan as a child, and despite his reputation as a major contemporary British writer, Ishiguro’s Japanese heritage continues to be a consideration in discussions of him and his works. Ishiguro himself has referred to his engagements with what he terms an ‘imagined Japan’ in his works. Even in texts where Japan does not figure as a discernable narrative presence, there are sometimes (seemingly insignificant) subtextual references, suggesting a lingering residue of ‘Japanese-ness’ (real or ‘imagined’) in his works. This paper focuses on these engagements with ‘Japan’ in Ishiguro’s works, in both those texts, such as A Pale View of the Hills and An Artist of the Floating World where an ‘imagined Japan’ figure prominently and in others (like The Remains of the Day and The Unconsoled) where this apparently is not the case. My discussion draws upon Australian literary studies scholar Mary Besemeres’ analytical framework of ‘self translation’ to look at ‘language migrant’ authors from non-English speaking backgrounds writing in English (Besemeres 2002: 10). Besemeres’ study discusses a number of such ‘language migrant’ authors including Vladimir Nabokov, Polish-Canadian journalist Eva Hoffman, the Asian-American activist and writer Maxine Hong-Kingston, as well as Kazuo Ishiguro. My discussion of Ishiguro, however, juxtaposes him against another ‘language migrant’ writer situated between Japan and Europe, the poet and writer Yoko Tawada, who writes in both Japanese and German.
Queering Migrations Towards, From, and Beyond Asia; Hugo Cordova Quero, Joseph N. Goh, Michael Sepidoza Campos (eds), 2014
Across much of the globe, including most regions of Asia, the heterosexual nuclear family, premis... more Across much of the globe, including most regions of Asia, the heterosexual nuclear family, premised upon an ideal of the husband/wife and non-adult dependent children as a unit, has increasingly become the blueprint for imaginings of the concept of ‘family’. Yet, the reality is that the discourse linking ‘family’ exclusively to the heterosexual nuclear family is historically a relatively new construct, both in the West and in Asia. Moreover, there has always been far more diversity and variation in family arrangements, than the nuclear family model would suggest. Childless couples, extended families, shared households, single parent households are just some examples, whether out of choice or necessity, of ‘non-conventional’, non-normative family arrangements that have existed historically, and continue on into the present.
One alternative configuration of ‘family’ is households and arrangements involving same-sex members. My paper, drawing upon popular and visual culture texts across a range of societies in East, Southeast and South Asia, will focus on the relationship between the notion of ‘family’ and such non-normative, same-sex subjectivities (to which I apply the label ‘queer’ rather than more restrictive, identity-based terms like ‘lesbian and gay’ or ‘lgbt’). In particular, the paper deploys Gayatri Gopinath’s framework of circuits of ‘queer diasporic desire’ to reflect on the ways in which the notion of ‘family’ and its imaginings can get ‘queered’ in its travellings across various socio-cultural contexts in Asia. The paper suggests that queer subjectivities and relationships can (and indeed, do) find expression within sometimes quite surprising spaces, such as within the confines of ‘traditional’ family structures. Moreover, I argue that these articulations and imaginings of ‘queer’ and ‘family’ work to de-stabilize and challenge both ‘Western’-inflected understandings of non-heterosexual subjectivity and assumptions about the seamless heterosexuality of the ‘family’ across Asia.
"Gender, Nation and State in Modern Japan", Andrea Germer, Vera Mackie and Ulrike Wöhr (Eds); Routledge, Jul 2014
Asia Pacific Perspectives, 2017
This paper looks at Japan over the Shôwa (1925—1989) and post-Shôwa, Heisei (1989—) periods throu... more This paper looks at Japan over the Shôwa (1925—1989) and post-Shôwa, Heisei (1989—) periods through the discourse of masculinity embodied in the urban, middle-class white-collar " salaryman. " As a sort of " Everyman " of corporate Japan, particularly over the 1960s-1990s, the salaryman came to signify both Japanese masculinity in general, and more specifically Japanese corporate culture. In this regard the discourse of masculinity signified by the salaryman could have been regarded as the culturally privileged hegemonic masculinity. Moreover, despite the corporate re-structurings and socioeconomic and cultural shifts in Japan since the 1990s, the salaryman continues to be pivotal to the ways in which Japanese corporate culture, Japanese masculinity, and indeed Japanese national identity continue to be framed. This paper traces the emergence of the discourse of the salaryman in the first decades of the twentieth century, its entrenchment in the post-World War II (postwar) decades as the hegemonic blueprint for Japanese masculinity, and its apparent fragmentation over the decades of economic slowdown since the 1990s.
Genders, Transgenders and Sexualities in Japan, 2006
Popular Culture in Asia, 2013
Men, Masculinities and Methodologies, 2013
Asian Currents, Feb 17, 2015
Asian Currents is the monthly newsletter of The Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA). Ou... more Asian Currents is the monthly newsletter of The Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA). Our primary objective is to promote and support the study of Asia in Australia, the region and beyond. We are interested in linking up with institutions, Asian Studies organizations, and independent researchers who are discovering and exploring knowledge of Asia.
Japanese Studies, 2011
In this article I discuss the ways in which the 2008 film Tokyo Sonata engages with the contrasti... more In this article I discuss the ways in which the 2008 film Tokyo Sonata engages with the contrasting emotional and physical geographies of comfortable suburbia and the contemporary reality of socio-cultural despondency. The Sasaki family is the embodiment of the quintessential nuclear family of urban, middle-class Japan. Their world starts unravelling the day the father, Sasaki Ryūhei, is laid off from his middle-management job. Unwilling to reveal this to his family, Ryūhei continues to leave for work each morning dressed in his suit, but spends his days in a park inhabited by homeless men. Ultimately, he finds employment as a cleaner in a shopping mall. Ryūhei's journey from white-collar salaryman to menial worker is set against the backdrop of collective anxiety in the intermeshing physical and emotional ‘scapes’ of recession-era Tokyo. I argue that, at the core, this is an anxiety about the loss of masculine authority in the home and the workplace, and at the level of Japan as a nation. Moreover, it is an anxiety that cannot be fully appreciated without reference to the framing social, cultural, economic and emotional topographies of post-bubble Japan.
"Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific", Issue 23 , Jan 2010
Culture, Society and Masculinities, 2009
This paper is an overview of the shifts in discourses of masculinity in Japan at a particularly c... more This paper is an overview of the shifts in discourses of masculinity in Japan at a particularly crucial period in that country's recent history-the 1990s and the early 2000s. It contends that without a proper appreciation of the significance of these years, it is next to impossible to get a sense of the socio-cultural, economic, and political dynamics of Japan today. Japan's "Lost Decade" (ushinawareta jûnen, in Japanese) 1 pertains to a period of economic slowdown, corporate restructurings, and rising unemployment rates, coupled with a growing sense of collective socio-cultural insecurity and anxiety (Shimokawa, 2006, pp. 3-11). These years followed in the wake of several decades of consistent economic growth from the 1950s until the "bubble" economy boom years of the 1980s, during the course of which Japan had emerged as a major industrial superpower, and in many respects had become something of a global economic role model for developing nations. The bursting of the largely real estate and speculation-driven "bubble" boom in the early 1990s, however, put an end to these economic "glory years" and ushered in a period of prolonged economic ABSTRACT The "Lost Decade" of the 1990s, extending into the early 2000s, was a particularly crucial period in Japan's recent history. On the one hand, these years were characterized by significant economic and social upheaval. At the same time, these years were witness to increasing challenges in the public sphere to societally dominant discourses, including those relating to gender, and in particular, masculinity. This paper provides an overview of the shifts in discourses of masculinity over these years. It contends that an understanding of the changes that occurred during the "Lost Decade" is necessary in order to appreciate the dynamics of men's lives in Japan today.
Asia Research Institute (ARI) Working Paper Series, 2009
Japanese Studies, 2000
It is early M arch, in the sm all city of Furano, located (so it is claim ed) right at the center... more It is early M arch, in the sm all city of Furano, located (so it is claim ed) right at the center of the northern island of Hokkaido. To all appearances the city is typical of sm all-town Japan, slowly bleeding to death through de-population and econom ic recessionÐ not exactly the ideal place to begin a discussion of the`salarym an' and corporate culture. However, the city is hom e to a theatrical group, the Furano Juku, which has received considerable national acclaim since its creation ® fteen years ago. 1 Th e perform ance a friend and I have driven over an hour through another one of H okkaido' s seem ingly never-ending blizzards to see is entitled`Hashiru' (literally,`to run' ). In keeping with the title, the central them e of the play is a m arathon race; those participating are young m en and wom en, som e taking part for th e ® rst tim e and others who were unable to com plete the course the previous year. O n one level, the m arathon is the entire playÐ actors keep running while going through the dialogue. O n another level, the m arathon that is the play serves as an allegory for another race: the post-W orld W ar Tw o econom ic race of industrial-capitalist Japan, where individuals, fam ilies, organizations, indeed the whole of society, kept running in pursuit of goals which becam e increasingly m eaningless.
(edited collection) The middle-class nuclear family model has long dominated discourses on famil... more (edited collection)
The middle-class nuclear family model has long dominated discourses on family in Japan. Yet there have always been multiple configurations of family and kinship, which, in the context of significant socio-economic and demographic shifts since the 1990s, have become increasingly visible in public discourse. This book explores the meanings and practices of "family" in Japan, and brings together research by scholars of literature, gender studies, media and cultural studies, sociology and anthropology. While the primary focus is the "Japanese" family, it also examines the experience and practice of family beyond the borders of Japan, in such settings as Brazil, Australia, and Bali. The chapters explore key issues such as ageing, single households, non-heterosexual living arrangements and parenting. Moreover, many of the issues addressed, such as the growing diversity of family, the increase in single-person households, and the implications of an ageing society, are applicable to other mature, late-industrial societies.
Employing both multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches, this book combines textual analysis of contemporary television, film, literature, manga, anime and other media with empirical and ethnographic studies of families in Japan and in transnational spaces. As such, it will be of great interest to students and scholars working across a number of fields including Japanese culture and society, sociology of family, gender studies, film and media studies, literature and cultural studies, and gerontology
This volume brings together research by scholars from history, literature, gender studies, cultur... more This volume brings together research by scholars from history, literature, gender studies, cultural studies, and sociology/anthropology on the meanings and practices of "family", both within the nation-state of "Japan" and in transnational spaces. While the majority of the chapters focus on contemporary society, others look at family in the late-nineteenth/early-twentieth century and the immediate post-World War II years, and its significance to the ensuing periods. Again, while the book’s main focus is the "Japanese" family, some chapters discuss the experience and practice of family beyond the borders of Japan, in such settings as Brazil, Australia, and Bali.
The contributors draw on a broad range of methodological approaches, including oral history, interview-based and ethnographic research, official discourse analysis, literary analysis, and analysis of visual culture. Such an interdisciplinary approach means that this book will be of great interest to students and scholars working across a number of fields including Japanese culture and society, sociology of family, gender studies, film and media studies, literature and cultural studies, Japanese/Asian studies and gerontology.
In Japan, the figure of the suited, white-collar office worker or business executive ‘salaryman’ ... more In Japan, the figure of the suited, white-collar office worker or business executive ‘salaryman’ (or, sarariiman), came to be associated with Japan’s economic transformation following World War Two. The ubiquitous salaryman came to signify both Japanese masculinity, and Japanese corporate culture, and in this sense, the salaryman embodied ‘the archetypal citizen’.
This book uses the figure of the salaryman to explore masculinity in Japan by examining the salaryman as a gendered construct. Whilst there is a considerable body of literature on Japanese corporate culture and a growing acknowledgement of the role of gender, until now the focus has been almost exclusively on women in the workplace. In contrast, this book is one of the first to focus on the men within Japanese corporate culture through a gendered lens. Not only does this add to the emerging literature on masculinity in Japan, but given the important role Japanese corporate culture has played in Japan’s emergence as an industrial power, Romit Dasgupta’s research offers a new way of looking both at Japanese business culture, and more generally at important changes in Japanese society in recent years.
Based on intensive interviews carried out with young male private sector employees in Japan, this book makes an important contribution to the study of masculinity and Japanese corporate culture, in addition to providing an insight into Japanese culture more generally. As such it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Japanese studies, Japanese society and gender studies.
Incorporating Japanese language materials and field-based research, this compelling collection of... more Incorporating Japanese language materials and field-based research, this compelling collection of essays takes a comparative look at the changing notions of gender and sexual diversity in Japan, considering both heterosexual and non-heterosexual histories, lifestyles and identities.
Written by key Japanese authors and Western scholars the volume examines how non-conformist individuals have questioned received notions and challenged social norms relating to sex and gender. The chapters depict the plurality of gender positions; from housewives opposed to gender roles within marriage to heterosexual men wishing to be more involved in family life. Including material not previously published in English, this volume gives an overview of the important changes taking place in gender and sexuality studies within Japanese scholarship.
This chapter draws attention to the intersections and collisions between discourses of work, masc... more This chapter draws attention to the intersections and collisions between discourses of work, masculinity, and sexuality in the context of Japanese corporate culture. Despite significant socio-cultural shifts over recent decades the discourse of the middle-class, white-collar heterosexual ‘salaryman’ continues to be a signifier for Japanese corporate masculinity, and indeed, for Japanese masculinity as a whole. Yet, the reality is that there are salarymen who may not be heterosexual, but nevertheless need to engage on a day-to-day basis with the heteronormative ideological expectations of corporate masculinity. This chapter, drawing on interviews with individual salarymen who identify as non-heterosexual, explores the complex relationship between the publicly articulated heteronormative ideology of the workplace, and the day-to-day micro-negotiations with the expectations of this ideology by non-heterosexual individuals.
Kazuo Ishiguro in a Global Context (ed. Cynthia Wong and Hülya Yıldız), Apr 2015
This chapter explores the relationship between Kazuo Ishiguro and Japan and notions of ‘Japanese-... more This chapter explores the relationship between Kazuo Ishiguro and Japan and notions of ‘Japanese-ness’. Despite having left Japan as a child, and despite his reputation as a major contemporary British writer, Ishiguro’s Japanese heritage continues to be a consideration in discussions of him and his works. Ishiguro himself has referred to his engagements with what he terms an ‘imagined Japan’ in his works. Even in texts where Japan does not figure as a discernable narrative presence, there are sometimes (seemingly insignificant) subtextual references, suggesting a lingering residue of ‘Japanese-ness’ (real or ‘imagined’) in his works. This paper focuses on these engagements with ‘Japan’ in Ishiguro’s works, in both those texts, such as A Pale View of the Hills and An Artist of the Floating World where an ‘imagined Japan’ figure prominently and in others (like The Remains of the Day and The Unconsoled) where this apparently is not the case. My discussion draws upon Australian literary studies scholar Mary Besemeres’ analytical framework of ‘self translation’ to look at ‘language migrant’ authors from non-English speaking backgrounds writing in English (Besemeres 2002: 10). Besemeres’ study discusses a number of such ‘language migrant’ authors including Vladimir Nabokov, Polish-Canadian journalist Eva Hoffman, the Asian-American activist and writer Maxine Hong-Kingston, as well as Kazuo Ishiguro. My discussion of Ishiguro, however, juxtaposes him against another ‘language migrant’ writer situated between Japan and Europe, the poet and writer Yoko Tawada, who writes in both Japanese and German.
Queering Migrations Towards, From, and Beyond Asia; Hugo Cordova Quero, Joseph N. Goh, Michael Sepidoza Campos (eds), 2014
Across much of the globe, including most regions of Asia, the heterosexual nuclear family, premis... more Across much of the globe, including most regions of Asia, the heterosexual nuclear family, premised upon an ideal of the husband/wife and non-adult dependent children as a unit, has increasingly become the blueprint for imaginings of the concept of ‘family’. Yet, the reality is that the discourse linking ‘family’ exclusively to the heterosexual nuclear family is historically a relatively new construct, both in the West and in Asia. Moreover, there has always been far more diversity and variation in family arrangements, than the nuclear family model would suggest. Childless couples, extended families, shared households, single parent households are just some examples, whether out of choice or necessity, of ‘non-conventional’, non-normative family arrangements that have existed historically, and continue on into the present.
One alternative configuration of ‘family’ is households and arrangements involving same-sex members. My paper, drawing upon popular and visual culture texts across a range of societies in East, Southeast and South Asia, will focus on the relationship between the notion of ‘family’ and such non-normative, same-sex subjectivities (to which I apply the label ‘queer’ rather than more restrictive, identity-based terms like ‘lesbian and gay’ or ‘lgbt’). In particular, the paper deploys Gayatri Gopinath’s framework of circuits of ‘queer diasporic desire’ to reflect on the ways in which the notion of ‘family’ and its imaginings can get ‘queered’ in its travellings across various socio-cultural contexts in Asia. The paper suggests that queer subjectivities and relationships can (and indeed, do) find expression within sometimes quite surprising spaces, such as within the confines of ‘traditional’ family structures. Moreover, I argue that these articulations and imaginings of ‘queer’ and ‘family’ work to de-stabilize and challenge both ‘Western’-inflected understandings of non-heterosexual subjectivity and assumptions about the seamless heterosexuality of the ‘family’ across Asia.
"Gender, Nation and State in Modern Japan", Andrea Germer, Vera Mackie and Ulrike Wöhr (Eds); Routledge, Jul 2014
"Men, Masculinities and Methodologies", Barbara Pini and Bob Pease (Eds.), Aug 30, 2013
"Popular Culture in Asia: Memory, City, Celebrity", Lorna Fitzsimmons & John Lent (Eds); Palgrave Macmillan , May 2013
"Popular Culture, Globalisation and Japan", Matt Allen and Rumi Sakamoto (Eds.) , 2006
"Genders, Transgenders and Sexualities in Modern Japan", Mark McLelland and Romit Dasgupta (Eds.), 2005
"Asian Masculinities: The Meaning and Practice of Manhood in China and Japan", Kam Louie and Morris Low (Eds.), 2003
"Japanese Cybercultures", Nanette Gottlieb and Mark McLelland (Eds.) , 2003