Floating Islands; or, Saikaku's Eighteenth Century
updated:
Tuesday, September 21, 2021 - 4:48pm
American Society of 18th Century Studies
deadline for submissions:
Friday, October 8, 2021
Following the various calls for a more global perspective on the eighteenth century at ASECS 2021, this panel seeks papers on the work of Japanese author Ihara Saikaku (1642-1693). In her 2016 book, The Age of Silver, Ning Ma discusses Saikaku as the most significant representative figure of the “stories of the floating world” that, she argues, should be seen as an emergence of realist fiction. A bestseller in 17th and 18th century Japan, Saikaku’s work fell into obscurity until a revival of interest in the late 19th century, when he became known as “Japan’s realist”.