A SHEEP'S SONG by Kato Shuichi, Chia-ning Chang (Trans) ( 9780520219793 )

Item Details

Title:

A SHEEP'S SONG
A WRITER'S REMINISCENCES OF JAPAN AND THE WORLD

By:

Kato Shuichi, Chia-ning Chang (Trans)

Format:

Paperback

List price:

£31.00

Our price:

£24.80

Discount:

20% off

You save:

£6.20

ISBN 10:

0520219791

ISBN 13:

9780520219793

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Publisher:

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Pub. date:

21 April, 1999

Pages:

506

Translated from:

Japanese

Description:

An autobiography of Kato Shuichi, a cultural critic, literary historian, novelist, poet, and physician. It reconstructs his spiritual and intellectual journey from the militarist era of prewar Japan to the dynamic postwar landscapes of Japan and Europe. It interprets modern Japan and its tumultuous relations with the outside world.

Synopsis:

This critically acclaimed autobiography was an instant bestseller in Japan, where it has gone through more than forty printings since its first publication. Cultural critic, literary historian, novelist, poet, and physician, Kato Shuichi reconstructs his dramatic spiritual and intellectual journey from the militarist era of prewar Japan to the dynamic postwar landscapes of Japan and Europe. This fluid translation of "A Sheep's Song" captures Kato's unique voice and brings his insightful interpretation of modern Japan and its tumultuous relations with the outside world to English-speaking readers for the first time. Kato describes his youthful interest in the natural sciences as well as in Japanese and Western literatures - from the Man'yoshu to Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Baudelaire, Valery, and Proust. Turning to the rise of Japanese fascism in the late 1930s, he recalls his rebellion against the jingoistic political atmosphere of the time. The chapters on the war and its aftermath include experiences of Hiroshima shortly after the bombing and the often tragicomic encounters between the defeated Japanese nation and the American Occupation forces.Throughout, memories of his wide-ranging literary career and broad experiences in Europe as a student, traveler, and cultural observer are punctuated by his unique perspectives on the relation between imagination, art, and politics. A postscript written especially for the English-language edition discusses the Vietnam War, the subsequent transformation of Japan, the cultures and societies of Europe, the United States, and China, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Illustrations:

13 b/w photographs

Publication:

Imprint:

University of California Press

Returns:

Returnable

Some other items by this author:

A HISTORY OF JAPANESE LITERATURE