In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • Publications of Note

Resisting Manchukuo: Chinese Women Writers and the Japanese Occupation. By Norman Smith. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, 2007. xvi, 197 pages. $85.00, cloth; $32.95, paper.

"This book interrogates the nature of Manchukuo's Chinese-language literary production at the high point of Japanese rule, focusing on the legacies of the most prolific Chinese women writers," with two aims: "to paint in broad strokes the framework of Manchukuo's Chinese-language literary world" and "to contextualize the activities of the most prolific Chinese women writers in Manchukuo" (p. xiv). Smith concludes that these women's legacy reveals a freedom that resulted from "ineffectual and misogynistic colonial practices. By tolerating their writings, or viewing them as inconsequential, colonial officials effectively encouraged the women to flourish as cultural critics" (p. 143).

_____

Burma and Japan since 1940: From "Co-Prosperity" to "Quiet Dialogue." By Donald M. Seekins. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen, 2007. x, 181 pages. $67.00, cloth; $30.00, paper.

In this monograph, Seekins discusses ties between Burma and Japan during three periods: 1941–45, when Burma was part of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere; 1954–88, when ties between the two countries were mostly economic; and the period after 1988, when Japan sought to counteract the influence of the People's Republic of China. The author concludes that Burma's military leaders "have not found a way to respond positively to external challenges. Burma remains a ground of contention for richer and more powerful states" (pp. 154–55).

_____

Japan and Asian Modernities. Edited by Rein Raud. Kegan Paul, London, 2007. x, 304 pages. $144.50.

This book seeks to bring out views and present trends that emerge from multiple disciplines "as specific characteristics of a coherent development model if viewed in the holistic context of multidisciplinary cultural analysis . . . and to show to what extent the experiences of one non-Western modernity can influence others" (p. x). The essays consider subjects ranging from ritual, business firms, and modernity [End Page 253] to modernization and Westernization. Contributors are Michael Pye, Bart Gaens, Takaaki Suzuki, Huh Donghyun and Vladimir Tikhonov, Hiroko Willcock, Genzō Yamamoto, Rein Raud, Markus Oedewald, Rupert Cox, Eric Milliot, Wai-keung Chung, and Danny Unger.

_____

Karaoke: The Global Phenomenon. By Zhou Xun and Francesca Tarocco. Reaktion Books Ltd., London, 2007; distributed by the University of Chicago Press. 207 pages. $19.95, paper.

"Karaoke," the authors write in the introduction to their book, "is complex. It blurs many existing boundaries, definitions and categories developed by specialists in cultural and media studies. It does not quite fit into any of the models that anthropologists and ethnomusicologists have tried to deploy. It challenges the view, popularly held in global studies, according to which the USA stands at the centre of global relations, thus equating 'globalization' with 'Americanization'" (p. 8). The book's ten chapters start with "Who Invented Karaoke?" and move through karaoke in countries of Asia, Europe, and South America before the last chapter on "Karaoke Technologies."

_____

Manzai: Eine japanische Form der Stand-up-Comedy. By Till Weingärtner. Iudicium Verlag, Munich, 2006. 108 pages. €9.90, paper.

Weingärtner's exploration of this comedic form considers a careful definition of its elements, its history, its association with Osaka, and research on manzai. He analyzes in depth the work of the comic pair of Yumeji Itoshi and Kimi Koishi, including textual analysis of one of their dialogues.

_____

Annotated Japanese Literature Gems: Volume One, Stories by Tawada Yōko, Hayashi Kyōko, and Nakagami Kenji. Selected and edited by Kyoko Seldon and Jolisa Gracewood. Cornell University East Asia Series, Ithaca, 2006. ix, 110 pages. $39.00, cloth; $19.50, paper.

This is the first volume in a series of six that will make available examples of annotated Japanese short stories and novellas from the Meiji period to the present. "Together with extensive annotations explaining advanced vocabulary, syntax and grammar, and social or historical context, the transliterated texts serve as a resource for students of modern Japanese literature" (p. vii). The works presented in Volume One are three pieces from Tawada Yōko's Kitsunetsuki, Hayashi Kyōko's "Tomo yo...

pdf

Share