Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque

"Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque will certainly have a consequential impact on the field of modern Japanese studies, especially the crucial interwar period and Japan's imperial project. At the same time, it reaches beyond mere national history, providing one of the first, fruitful attempts to rethink postcolonial discourse as an interpretive strategy rooted in the historical reality of East Asia." Harry Harootunian, author of The Empire's New Clothes: Paradigm Lost, and Regained "This book will be an essential touchstone for our understanding of twentieth-century imperialism, and of the transformation of labor under twentieth-century capitalism. Mark Driscoll's elaboration of the notion of the bio-political is the most imaginative and productive use of the concept that I have seen. His meticulous and wide-ranging research, drawing on Chinese and Korean sources as well as on his thorough mastery of Japanese archival and scholarly literature, not only makes a clear case for the specificity of Japanese imperial project, but offers crucial genealogical insights into the emergence of modern East Asian regimes of capital. Written with commitment, wit, and vision, it is also a great pleasure to read." Christopher Connery, author of The Empire of the Text: Writing and Authority in Early Imperial China "Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque is a stupendous study of Japanese empire. While existing studies often revolve around the analysis of colonial institutions (such as the army, government, and market), and discourses of colonial modernity, Mark Driscoll takes us into a wholly different terrain of politics, bringing out of their historical coffins the 'subaltern of the subaltern,' from coolies, human traffickers, prostitutes, hustlers, and drug dealers to comfort women and suicidal soldiers."--Hyun Ok Park, author of Two Dreams in One Bed: Empire, Social Life, and the Origins of the North Korean Revolution in Manchuria