Trauma, Dissociation and Re-enactment in Japanese Literature and Film

Book Details

• Author: David C. Stahl

• Publisher: Routledge

• Edition: 1st Edition, 2019

• Binding: Paperback

• Number of Pages: 238

• ISBN: 9780367172671

• Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches

• Language: English

About the Book

Trauma, Dissociation, and Re-enactment in Japanese Literature and Film by David C. Stahl presents a psychoanalytic perspective on Japanese fiction and cinema, exploring the psychological aftermath of societal traumas that have shaped modern Japan. While Japanese literature and film have often been analyzed through lenses like language, genre, and ideology, Stahl introduces a new methodology — trauma and PTSD studies — to delve deeper into the cultural and historical insights provided by Japanese writers and directors.

Stahl's approach involves in-depth psychoanalytic readings of key Japanese texts and films, focusing on works that have been largely under-explored in terms of psychological trauma. Through this lens, he examines texts such as Kawabata Yasunari’s Sleeping Beauties (1961), Enchi Fumiko’s Female Masks (1958), and Imamura Sho-Hei’s Vengeance is Mine (1979). The book explores concepts of social trauma, dissociation, failed mourning, revenge, and narrative memory, offering fresh insights into the psychological scars and transgenerational legacies of trauma.

By building on the work of trauma theorists like Pierre Janet and Judith Herman, this book provides a nuanced understanding of how Japanese works reflect the cultural and social impacts of historical trauma. A significant contribution to Japanese literature, film studies, and trauma research, Trauma, Dissociation, and Re-enactment in Japanese Literature and Film is an essential read for scholars and students interested in these fields, as well as those exploring the complex intersections of history, memory, and trauma in post-war Japan.