ABSTRACT
Historical surveys of postwar Japan are usually established on the grounds that the era is already over, interpreting "postwar" to be the years directly proceeding World War II. However, the contributors to this book take a unique approach to the concept of the postwar epoch and treat it as a network of historical time frames from the modern period, and connect these time capsules to the war to which they are inextricably linked. The books strength is in its very interdisciplinary approach to examining postwar Japan and as such it includes chapters centred on subjects as diverse as politics, poetry, philosophy, economics and art which serve to fill the blanks in the collective cultural memory that historical narratives leave behind.
Originally published in French, this new translation offers the English speaking world important access to a major work on Japan which has been greatly enriched by the translator’s great accuracy and knowledge of English, French and Japanese language, history and culture.
Japan's Postwar will appeal to students and scholars of Japanese Studies and Modern Japanese History as well as historians studying the world after 1945.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |53 pages
The Multiplicity of Chronologies, or the Postwar Contested
part |56 pages
Intellectuals facing the future
chapter 4|14 pages
In the Time After the Defeat
part III|41 pages
How Should One Speak? The Poets' Response
chapter 6|23 pages
‘Genzai', here and Now
part IV|64 pages
Forgetting, Commemoration, Diversion
chapter 10|22 pages
Repression of History and Commitment of Bodies
part V|58 pages
Complex experiences