To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the AJLS in 2001, we propose to expand the boundaries of the annual conference by shifting our focus from issues related exclusively to Japanese writers and their works to the theme of Japan as viewed from the vantage point of somewhere outside Japan. Hence our theme: Japan from Somewhere Else. We hope that this theme will accommodate writers and issues that have not yet come under the purview of the association. We are especially interested in incorporating writers of Japanese descent who write in English. Many of these writers deal directly with issues of Japanese cultural heritage. Others, while appearing to have little to do with Japan or Japanese literature, touch on issues of identity and place on the state of being "somewhere else" other than Japan. Another group of writers we would like to think about in this context is Japanese nationals who move outside of Japan to write "Japanese literature." By thinking about our state of being "somewhere else," we hope to discern our subject, Japan and its literature, in a new light.

For more thorough information on this year’s conference, please visit the following Web Site, which provides you with information on the program, registration, accommodations, directions, as well as introduction to this year’s invited writers: http://www.ase.tufts.edu/asian/japanese/ajls.

REGISTRATION: Registration is required of all conference participants. Please see and mail the form included in this newsletter.

LODGINGS: The following hotel is recommended by the conference organizers: Amerisuites, 116 Riverside Avenue NE, Medford MA, Tel: (781) 395-8500; Fax: (781) 395-0077. Visit their Web Site at: www.amerisuites.com. Quite a few other hotels are also available in Cambridge and Medford areas at the cost of $150 to $200 per night.

TRANSPORTATION:   If you fly, the easiest way to come to the conference site or to your hotel is to take a taxi from Logan Airport. It will cost approximately $30. If you want to take the subway from the airport or if you come by car, please see the "Directions" section on the conference Web Site mentioned above.

Japan from Somewhere Else

Main Venue: Cabot Center Fletcher School Tufts University

12:00-1:30

Registration / Reception

1:30-2:00

Welcoming Remarks by Hosea Hirata and President of Tufts University

2:00-3:00

 Keynote Speech  by Traise Yamamoto, University of California Riverside (introduction by Hosea Hirata)

3:00-5:00

Panel 1: The New Japanese Literature: Transnationalism and Heterogeneity

"Poetics of Colonial Nostalgia: A case of Taiwan Manyoshu," Faye Yuan Kleeman, University of Colorado at Boulder

"Where is My Home?: Language and Identity,"  Keiko Nakano, John Carroll University

"Seeing Double: Yu Miri's Japan,"  Stephen Snyder, University of Colorado at Boulder

"Yoko Tawada and Hideo Levy: Transnational Writers of Japan," Reiko Tachibana, Pennsylvania State University

Discussant: Matthew Konigsberg, J-W Gaethe Universitat

5:00-5:30

Reception

5:30-7:00

Dinner (Faculty Dining Room) (hosted by Vida Johnson)

6:15-6:45

Keynote Speech by Eri Yasuhara California State University, San Bernardino

7:00-9:00

"Floating Weeds: the Arc of an American Japanese Aesthetic," Philip Gotanda (hosted by Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano)

8:00-9:00

Coffee and Pastries

9:00-10:00

Readings   by Mako Yoshikawa and Holly Uyemoto (introduction by Charles Inouye)

10:00-11:00

Round table: Japanese-American Writers and Japan

Mako Yoshikawa (novelist)

Holly Uyemoto (novelist)

Philip Gotanda (playwright, filmmaker)

Ruth Ozeki (novelist)

Charles Inouye (moderator)

11:00-12:00

Reading by Hiromi Ito (introduction by Hosea Hirata)

12:00-1:15

Lunch

1:30-3:00

Panel 3: "Japan" as  Somewhere Else: "Multi-lingualism" and "Translation"

"Mystery Plane: Sakamoto Kyu and the Translations of Rockabilly," Michael Bourdaghs, UCLA

"Japan, and Globality's Somewhere Else," Tom Looser, McGill University

"Translation and the Narrative of 'Trauma' in Nakagami Kenji's Nihongo ni tsuite (On the Japanese Language)," Atsuko Ueda, University of Illinois

"Godzilla: The Monster Made in Japan," Jim Reichert, Stanford University :

Discussant: Cody Poulton, University of Victoria

Evening at Wellesley

3:00-4:00

Bussing to Wellesley College

4:00-5:30

Readings by Ruth Ozeki (introduction by Eve Zimmerman) and Tawada Yoko (introduction by Mathew Koningsberg)

Dinner (hosted by Carolyn Morley)

Party

Bussing to hotels in Cambridge Medford

8:00-9:00

Coffee and Pastries

9:00-11:00

Panel 4: Japan as Literary Form, Heian to Now

"The Rhetoric of Taxonomy: The Pillow Books of Sei Shonagon, Peter Greenaway, and Ruth L. Ozeki," Naomi Fukumori, Ohio State University

"Merican-Jap and Modernity: Tani Joji's Popular Negotiation of the Foreign," Kyoko Omori, Ohio State University

"Nantonaku Heian, Kagirinaku Murasaki," Catherine Ryu, Michigan State University

"And There, Before My Very Eyes, Japan: Mizumura Minae Meets Orthodox Novel," Ann Sherif, Oberlin College

Discussant: Atsuko Sakaki, University of Toronto

11:00-11:30

Reading by Kyoko Mori (introduction by Mako Yoshikawa)

11:30-12:00

Closing Plenary Session (Round table)

Hosea Hirata, Tufts University
Charles Inouye, Tufts University
Eve Zimmerman,Wellesley College
Carolyn Morley, Wellesley College
Eiji Sekine, Purdue University

12:00

Closing Remarks by Charles Inouye

12:30

Light lunch provided

 

AJLS 2001  Pre-registration Deadline: October 15, 2001 Name____________________________________  Address _________________________________  City ______________ State __________________  Country  ____________ Zip __________________  Phone/Fax ________________________________  Email  ____ _______________________________  Affiliation ________________________________  Registration Fees Regular  (    )  $35 Graduate student  (    ) $25 Undergraduate student (    )  free   * Please enclose a check payable to Tufts University by October 15, 2001 * Please indicate which meals you will be needing. All meals are provided free to pre-registered attendees: Friday dinner (     ); Saturday lunch   (     ); Saturday dinner at Wellesley (     ); Sunday lunch (     ). Please indicate any dietary restrictions: ________________  Signature____________________________ Mail form and check to : Hosea Hirata, Department of German, Russian, Asian Languages and Literatures, Tufts University, Olin Center, Medford, MA 02155

Membership fee: $25 (North American members); $35 (members from outside the region). Please send the membership form and your check (payable to AJLS) to the AJLS address. All annual meeting panel participants must become a member in order to present.      

"Issues of Canonicity and Canon Formation in Japanese Literary Studies," PAJLS, vol. 1 (2000) was recently published. "Acts of writing: Language and identities in Japanese Literature," PAJLS, vol. 2 (2001) is ready to be published. The following back issues are available: "Poetics of Japanese Literature" (1993)," Japanese Theatricality and Performance" (1995), "Revisionism in Japanese Literary Studies" (1996), "New Historicism in Japanese Literary Studies" (1998), and "Love and Sexuality in Japanese Literature" (1999) can be purchased at the cost of $15 each by non-members ($10 for members). Add $10 for Air Mail.  

We apologize for a mistake we made in our previous newsletter. Professor Michele Marra will chair our AJLS meeting for 2003 at UCLA (instead of 2002). We are now calling for possible chair(s) to host our 2002 meeting. If you are interested, please contact Professor Ann Sherif as soon as possible at: ann.sherif@oberlin.edu or 440.775.8827 (Tel).

AJLS Newsletter Sponsor: FLL, Purdue University
 

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