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Constructing Subjectivities : Autobiographies in Modern Japan - Noboru Tomonari

Constructing Subjectivities

Autobiographies in Modern Japan

By: Noboru Tomonari

28 February 2008

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Constructing Subjectivities addresses the relationship between memory and modernity and its relevance to Japanese autobiographical texts. Tomonari construes autobiographies as embodying memory in modernity, and regards the conditions of modernity as having determined, in part, the shape of autobiographical texts. At the same time, however, he argues that Japanese autobiographies were not simply bound to the cultural and social norms of the time, but rather that the texts themselves were among the main agents of fostering Japanese modernity. The autobiographies he discusses served to initiate certain societal transitions and took part in the remaking of social norms and conventions.

According to Constructing Subjectivities, mnemonic texts were crucial to the construction of modern ideological discourses such as those on the self, the family, entrepreneurship, the roles of women, and the nation. The study of this discursive process enables us to understand how the Japanese themselves tried to control the form of modernity that materialized in Japan. Because autobiography constructed and embodied collective memory at this time, analyzing the discursive process is also crucial to understanding both contemporary Japan and the self-perception of the Japanese people.
Industry Reviews
Constructing Subjectivities is an intriguing account of autobiographical writing in Japan placed in a socioeconomic context. Autobiographies by mainstream figures from the business community such as Suzuki Bokushi, Kawato Jindai, and Fukuzawa Yukichi are joined by those from radical social activists like Sakai Toshihiko, Osugi Sakae, and Katayama Sen, not to mention ones by activist women such as Yamakawa Kikue, Ishigaki Ayako, Oku Mumeo, Kamichika Ichiko and Maruoka Hideko. The author thus offers the reader a diverse and wide-ranging assortment of autobiographical texts for discussion and analysis. -- Ronald P. Loftus, Willamette University
This book is an intriguing study with outstanding strengths, particularly in regard to the wealth of material presented...anyone interested in modern Japanese culture and society will come away from it with new insight. It raises the question of how Japanese business has contributed to Japanese culture. It has the potential to trigger future research on self-narratives in a transnational context, and it also inspires reflections on the relationship between "reality" and discursive as well as literary writing. * The Journal of Japanese Studies *

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