Miyazawa Kenji and his illustrators : : images of nature and Buddhism in Japanese children's literature / / by Helen Kilpatrick.

• Superior document: Japanese visual culture ; volume 7
• VerfasserIn: Kilpatrick, Helen,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2013.
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Japanese visual culture ; v. 7.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (231 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

In Miyazawa Kenji and His Illustrators , Helen Kilpatrick examines re-visionings of the literature of one of Japan’s most celebrated authors, Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933). The deeply Buddhist Kenji's imaginative dōwa (children’s tales) are among the most frequently illustrated in Japan today. Numerous internationally renowned artists such as Munakata Shikō, Kim Tschang-Yeul and Lee Ufan have represented his stories in an array of intriguing visual styles, reinvigorating them as picture books for modern audiences. Focusing on some of Kenji’s most famous narratives, the author analyses the ways artists respond to the stories’ metaphysical philosophies, exploring the interaction of literature, art and culture. Miyazawa Kenji and His Illustrators is richly depicted with full colour images of the representations of Kenji’s work, making the book a valuable resource on how illustrations shape story, and how these picture books continue to convey the texts’ witty and ironic messages more deeply than the written word alone.

Table of Contents

Preliminary material -- Introduction -- 1: The Signifi cance of Miyazawa Kenji’s Ideals in (Post-) Modern Japanese Children’s Literature -- 2: Reading Japanese Visual Art and Picture Books -- 3: The Tale of ‘Wildcat and the Acorns’ (Donguri to Yamaneko): Self and Subjectivity in the Characters and Haecceitas in the Organic World -- 4: Beyond Dualism in ‘Snow Crossing’ (Yukiwatari) -- 5: Kenji’s ‘Dekunobō’ Ideal in ‘Gōshu, the Cellist’ (Serohiki No Gōshu) and ‘Kenjū’s Park’ (Kenjū Kōenrin) -- 6: Beyond the Realm of Asura in ‘The Twin Stars’ (Futago no Hoshi) and ‘Wild Pear’ (Yamanashi) -- 7: The Threat of Erasure through Material Embeddedness in ‘The Restaurant of Many Orders’ (Chūmon no Ōi Ryōriten) -- Conclusion -- Endnotes -- Bibliography -- Index.