Introduction

Although the narratives of Ōe Kenzaburo (1935–) are deeply rooted in the indigenous culture of Japan, they are ultimately concerned with what is uniquely literary, not with what is uniquely Japanese. In this sense his narratives are “transcultural and transhistoric” ¹ to the core. In scope of vision, breadth of subject matter, and brilliance of artistic imagination and experimentation, no other Japanese writer equals Ōe. ²