Minae Mizumura
Encyclopedia
is a critically acclaimed novelist currently writing in the Japanese language
. Educated in the US, she wrote her first published work in the English language, a scholarly essay on the literary criticism of Paul de Man
. She is often portrayed as a Japanese
novel
ist who questions the conventional boundaries of national literature. Her novels include Light and Darkness Continued, An I Novel from left to right, and A Real Novel, which has been selected for the Japanese Literature Publishing Project, a national program to promote translations of Japanese literature. She also writes essays and literary criticism in major newspapers and journals. Many of Minae Mizumura's works have been described as highly readable and often entertaining, while, at the same time, resonating with historical significance. They are also known for their formalistic innovations, such as making use of unusual printing formats and inserting English texts and photographic illustrations. Because she returned to Japan as an adult and chose to write in the Japanese language
despite her coming of age in the United States
and her education in the English language
, critics have often noted her particular love for Japanese language
and her commitment to Japanese literature
. Her analysis and observations on the demise of the Japanese language, detailed in her book of criticism called The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English, gained much attention from the mainstream media as well as the Internet. In the same book, she wrote of the significance of preserving the great literary tradition established during the time of building modern Japan.
Minae Mizumura has taught at Princeton University
, the University of Michigan
and Stanford University
. She was a resident novelist in the International Writing Program
at the University of Iowa
in 2003. She has won the 1991 Agency for Cultural Affairs New Artist Award, the 1996 Noma New Artist Award, and the 2003 Yomiuri Prize
for Literature. Minae Mizumura now resides in Tokyo
, Japan
.
, she moved to Long Island
, New York
at the age of twelve. Her years of reading and re-reading European literature
during her childhood in post war Japan, and modern Japanese literature
while attending American high school, later became the foundation for her novels. After studying studio art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
and French
at Sorbonne
in Paris
, she went on to Yale College
, majoring in French. While still a student at Yale Graduate School, she published a critical essay on the writing of the renowned literary critic Paul de Man
upon his death. It was noticed as a precursor to later studies on de Man's work and launched her writing career. Her first novel, Light and Darkness Continued, the sequel to Natsume Sōseki
's unfinished classic, and her second novel, An I Novel from left to right, a fictionalized autobiography, were first serialized in quarterly journals edited by the literary critic Kojin Karatani
. Her third and most recent novel A Real Novel, a re-telling of Emily Brontë
's Wuthering Heights
in post war Japan
, was first serialized in the monthly literary journal, Shincho
.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. Educated in the US, she wrote her first published work in the English language, a scholarly essay on the literary criticism of Paul de Man
Paul de Man
Paul de Man was a Belgian-born deconstructionist literary critic and theorist.He began teaching at Bard College. Later, he completed his Ph.D. at Harvard University in the late 1950s...
. She is often portrayed as a Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist who questions the conventional boundaries of national literature. Her novels include Light and Darkness Continued, An I Novel from left to right, and A Real Novel, which has been selected for the Japanese Literature Publishing Project, a national program to promote translations of Japanese literature. She also writes essays and literary criticism in major newspapers and journals. Many of Minae Mizumura's works have been described as highly readable and often entertaining, while, at the same time, resonating with historical significance. They are also known for their formalistic innovations, such as making use of unusual printing formats and inserting English texts and photographic illustrations. Because she returned to Japan as an adult and chose to write in the Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
despite her coming of age in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and her education in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, critics have often noted her particular love for Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and her commitment to Japanese literature
Japanese literature
Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
. Her analysis and observations on the demise of the Japanese language, detailed in her book of criticism called The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English, gained much attention from the mainstream media as well as the Internet. In the same book, she wrote of the significance of preserving the great literary tradition established during the time of building modern Japan.
Minae Mizumura has taught at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. She was a resident novelist in the International Writing Program
International Writing Program
The International Writing Program is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa. Since its inception in 1967, the IWP has hosted over 1,100 emerging and established poets, novelists, dramatists, essayists, and journalists from more than 120 countries...
at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in 2003. She has won the 1991 Agency for Cultural Affairs New Artist Award, the 1996 Noma New Artist Award, and the 2003 Yomiuri Prize
Yomiuri Prize
The is a prestigious literary award in Japan. The prize was founded in 1948 by the Yomiuri Shinbun Company to help form a "cultural nation". The winner is awarded one million Japanese yen and an inkstone.-Award categories:...
for Literature. Minae Mizumura now resides in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Profile
Born to a middle class family in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, she moved to Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
at the age of twelve. Her years of reading and re-reading European literature
European literature
European literature refers to the literature of Europe.European literature includes literature in many languages; among the most important of the modern written works are those in English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Czech and Russian and works by the...
during her childhood in post war Japan, and modern Japanese literature
Japanese literature
Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
while attending American high school, later became the foundation for her novels. After studying studio art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
at Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, she went on to Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
, majoring in French. While still a student at Yale Graduate School, she published a critical essay on the writing of the renowned literary critic Paul de Man
Paul de Man
Paul de Man was a Belgian-born deconstructionist literary critic and theorist.He began teaching at Bard College. Later, he completed his Ph.D. at Harvard University in the late 1950s...
upon his death. It was noticed as a precursor to later studies on de Man's work and launched her writing career. Her first novel, Light and Darkness Continued, the sequel to Natsume Sōseki
Natsume Soseki
, born ', is widely considered to be the foremost Japanese novelist of the Meiji period . He is best known for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, Chinese-style poetry, and fairy tales...
's unfinished classic, and her second novel, An I Novel from left to right, a fictionalized autobiography, were first serialized in quarterly journals edited by the literary critic Kojin Karatani
Kojin Karatani
is a Japanese philosopher and literary critic.-Biography:Karatani was educated at University of Tokyo where he took a BA degree in economics and an MA in English literature. The Gunzō Literary Prize, which he received at the age of 27 for an essay on Natsume Sōseki, was the first critical acclaim...
. Her third and most recent novel A Real Novel, a re-telling of Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
's Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
in post war Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, was first serialized in the monthly literary journal, Shincho
Shincho
is a Japanese literary magazine published monthly by Shinchosha. Since its launching in 1904, it has published the works of many of Japan's leading writers....
.
Works
- Light and Darkness Continued (Zoku Meian), (ISBN 4101338116) 1990.
- An I Novel from Left to Right (Shishosetu from left to right), (ISBN 4480425853) 1995.
- Letters with Bookmarks Attached (Tegami, Shiori wo Soete), (ISBN 4022642718) 1998.
- A Real Novel (Honkaku Shosetsu), (in two volumes ISBN 4101338132 ISBN 4101338140) 2002.
- The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English (Nihongo ga Horobiru Toki – Eigo no Seiki no Nakade), Chikuma Shobo, (ISBN 4480814965) 2008.
- Reading in the Japanese Language (Nihongo wo Yomutoiukoto), Chikuma Shobo, (ISBN 9784480815019) 2009.
- Writing in the Japanese Language (Nihongo wo Kakutoiukoto), Chikuma Shobo, (ISBN 9784480815026) 2009.