ABSTRACT

This is an English-language anthology dedicated to the short stories of Kurahashi Yumiko (1935-), a Japanese novelist of profound intellectual powers. The eleven stories included in this volume suggest the breadth of the author's literary production, ranging from parodies of classical Japanese literature to cosmopolitan avant-garde works, from quasi-autobiography to science fiction. Her subversive fiction defies established definitions of "literature", "Japan", "modernity" and "femininity", and represents an important intellectual aspect of modern Japanese women's literature.

chapter |26 pages

An Extraterrestrial

(Uchūjin (1964))

chapter |10 pages

We Are Lovers

(Koibito dōshi (1963))

chapter |6 pages

The House of the Black Cat

(Kuroneko no ie (1989))

chapter |7 pages

The Woman with the Flying Head

(Kubi no tobu onna (1985))

chapter |6 pages

The Trade

(Kōkan (1985))

chapter |7 pages

The Witch Mask

(Kijo no men (1985))

chapter |10 pages

Spring Night Dreams

(Haru no yo no yume (1989))

chapter |12 pages

The Passage of Dreams

(Yume no kayoiji (1988))

chapter |7 pages

The Special Place

((Erabareta basho (1988))

chapter |7 pages

Flower Abstraction

(Furawā abusutorakushon (1991))

chapter |51 pages

The Long Passage of Dreams

(Nagai yumeji (1968))