Abe- Mishima- Oe: Solving Your Existential Crises Since 1960 2021

This is the first talk in 'Read Japan: A Booklover's Guide to Japanese Literature in Translation, 1960 - Now', a three-part series introducing contemporary Japanese fiction.

1960s and 1970s Japan is a time of astonishing change. It is the period of Japan's 'economic miracle,' with GDP growing at more than 10% for much of the 1960s. It is a time of massive demographic shift as people from the countryside flood urban centres, and it is the end of the postwar, when Japan begins again to participate in the international community.

It is also a time of crisis. The government's determination to extend US military presence in Japan leads to nationwide strikes and protests, both violent and peaceful. It is a time when many of Japan's writers find themselves in the midst of a crisis of identity. The old Japan is gone, but it is not yet clear what will, or what should, take its place.

This talk by Dr Mark Gibeau (a senior lecturer in Japanese at ANU) will examine three giants of postwar Japanese literature-Kobo Abe (1924-1993), Yukio Mishima (1925-1970), and Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe (b. 1935)-and discuss how they sought to construct a philosophical and moral response to the upheaval and change that engulfed them.

A recommended reading list will be provided at the end of the session. Attendees can also receive a 20% discount voucher from Books Kinokuniya Sydney, redeemable online, and will have a chance to win a book pack themed around the reading list for this talk, also courtesy of Books Kinokuniya Sydney.

'Read Japan: A Booklover's Guide to Japanese Literature in Translation, 1960 - Now' explores fiction produced in Japan through three talks. Each talk focuses on a 20-year period (1960s-70s, 1980s-90s, 2000-present), discussing expert picks from the literature of the time and highlighting the social and cultural context that informed them. Read Japan runs on Thursday nights from March 11 - 25, 2021, presented by The Japan Foundation, Sydney.

Free; bookings essential.