CJS Thursday Lecture Series | Kaze to tomo ni sarinu as jidai shōsetsu: The 1938 Japanese Translation of Gone With the Wind

Please note: This lecture will be held in person in room 1010 Weiser Hall and virtually via Zoom. This webinar is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Once you've registered, the joining information will be sent to your email. Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://myumi.ch/7eGgQ

My talk examines the second most popular Japanese publication of the twentieth century, Ōkubo Yasuo's translation of Gone With the Wind. I argue that the translation itself and its initial publicity campaign tapped into popular representations of the Meiji Restoration, particularly portraits of the infamous Shinsengumi. This association subtly links Margaret Mitchell's romanticized depiction of the Confederate rebellion with fascistic calls for a Shōwa Restoration in the 1930s.

U-M alumnus Jim Reichert is an associate professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Stanford University. His area of specialization is modern Japanese literature. He has written on representations of male-male sexuality in Meiji-era literature, silent Japanese film, 19th-century illustrated books, newspaper novels, and the role of fetishism in the writing of Tanizaki Jun’ichirō. He is currently finishing up a manuscript on prewar Japanese period fiction.

This lecture is made possible with the generous support of the U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.