Overview
At the height of state censorship in Japan, more indexes of banned books circulated, more essays on censorship were published, more works of illicit erotic and proletarian fiction were produced, and more passages were Xed out than at any other moment before or since. As censors construct and maintain their own archives, their acts of suppression yield another archive, filled with documents on, against, and in favor of censorship. The extant archive of the Japanese imperial censor (1923-1945) and the archive of the Occupation censor (1945-1952) stand as tangible reminders of this contradictory function of censors. As censors removed specific genres, topics, and words from circulation, some Japanese writers converted their offensive rants to innocuous fluff after successive encounters with the authorities. But, another coterie of editors, bibliographers, and writers responded to censorship by pushing back, using their encounters with suppression as incitement to rail against the authorities and to appeal to the prurient interests of their readers. This study examines these contradictory relationships between preservation, production, and redaction to shed light on the dark valley attributed to wartime culture and to cast a shadow on the supposedly bright, open space of free postwar discourse. (Winner of the 2010-2011 First Book Award of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University)
Full Product Details
Author: Jonathan Abel
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Volume: 11
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.50cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.635kg
ISBN: 9780520273344
ISBN 10: 0520273346
Pages: 376
Publication Date: 13 September 2012
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
The book sets a new benchmark for scholarship on its subject... Uncommon insight and rigor. --Japan Times
The book sets a new benchmark for scholarship on its subject... Uncommon insight and rigor. --Japan Times [An] original and important book... Abel breaks new ground. --Times Literary Supplement (Tls)
The book sets a new benchmark for scholarship on its subject... Uncommon insight and rigor. -- Mark Schilling Japan Times [An] original and important book... Abel breaks new ground. -- Alexander Jacoby Times Literary Supplement (TLS) It is difficult to overestimate the path-breaking importance of this book or its broader ramifications for understanding the nature and problems of modern surveillance throughout the globe. -- Sebastian Swann History: Reviews of New Books There is much to love about Jonathan Abel's new book. -- Carla Nappi New Bks In East Asian Stds What makes Redacted appealing to a broad audience is its ambitious scope and the capacious intellect behind it. -- Kristen Cather Modern Philology
The book sets a new benchmark for scholarship on its subject... Uncommon insight and rigor. --Japan Times [An] original and important book... Abel breaks new ground. --Times Literary Supplement (Tls) There is much to love about Jonathan Abel's new book. --New Bks In East Asian Stds
Author Information
Jonathan Abel is Assistant Professor In the Department of Comparative Literature at Penn State University
