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Japanese Contributions, 2007–2008

Japanese contributions for this period are stunning, with an impressive range of monographs and essay collections. The publication of a three-volume canonical literary history by a single author and of a comprehensive encyclopedia of William Faulkner compiled by the William Faulkner Society of Japan may signal a subtle change in Japanese academia, an effort to counter the recent flood of strong readings of American writers and their individual works generated by literary theories, especially feminist criticism, queer theory, and postcolonialism. There has been a need for ballast, so to speak, in terms of reliable literary encyclopedias and reference books. Also worthy of note are the digitization of literary works and literary criticism and the increasing availability of free e-texts and e-journals, developments that have in turn brought about an unprecedented transformation in the publishing business. A surprising development for students and scholars is that beginning in April 2009 Eigo Seinen, Japan’s oldest leading academic journal and a torchlight in English and American literary studies since its founding in 1898, will cease print publication and be available only on the Web. Only time will tell what effect, for better or worse, such changes will have. As usual, limited space forces this review to be severely selective, and priority is given to single-authored books and collections of original essays on topics and themes. With a few exceptions articles are restricted to those appearing in the major academic journals Eigo Seinen (EigoS), Studies in English Literature (SELit), Studies in American Literature (SALit), and Journal of American Literature Society of Japan ( JALSJ), the English-language version of SALit. Unless otherwise indicated, all books are published in Tokyo.