Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS)Waseda University

WIAS Seminar Series “Humanities in the Anthropocene” Vol. 7
Open Lecture – “Analyzing Archipelagos in the Work of Ishimure Michiko” (November 5)

Overview

This seminar series is part of the Humanities in the Anthropocene project begun by the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS) in October 2021. This project aims to be a place for cross-disciplinary dialogue based on the shared Anthropocene concept, an experiment in exploring new potential in the humanities by linking previously siloed specialized knowledge.

The 7th session will offer an approach for analyzing island chains in the work of Ishimure Michiko and ask, how should we analyze specific island-sea cosmologies in Ishimure’s work within the broader island chain of “Japan?” How is Édouard Glissant’s work on archipelagic thinking helpful in reading the work of Ishimure? But, also, how can we be more “planetary” in our thinking about island chains? In this paper, I show how archipelagos in Ishimure’s work need to be analyzed for their material as well as metaphorical conditions (as biotropes). This ecopolitical approach to the role of the islands and their adjacent waters addresses the cultural, archipelagic, and planetary elements of her work.

Speaker

MARRAN, Christine
Ph. D.: Modern Japanese Literature, University of Washington

Christine Marran is a Professor of Japanese Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.  She is currently a Visiting Professor at Yale University at the MacMillan Center.  Her current research lies within the disciplinary frame of ecocriticism.  Her most recent book, Ecology Without Culture:Aesthetics for a Toxic Age (University of Minnesota Press, 2017) argues that environmental thinking requires a critique of cultural humanism.  Introducing her concepts of the “biotrope,” “ethnic environmentalism,” and “obligatory storytelling,” Marran shows how cultural ideas, which work at a humanistic scale usually toward human interest, can impede our ability to speak about the more-than-human world.

Moderator：
DEMATAGODA, Udith
Assistant Professor, Waseda institute for advanced studies, Waseda University

Chair：
YAMAMOTO, Satomi
Professor, Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University

Date/Time

November 5, 2022 (Sat.), 10:00~12:00 (JST)

Location

Online meeting via Zoom (prior registration required)

Language

English

Program

Prospected Audience

Faculty members, Researchers, Graduate students

Organized by

Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS)

Co-Organizers

Global Japanese Studies Model Unit, Waseda University Top Global University Project
Ryusaku Tsunoda Center of Japanese Culture
Waseda Society of Art History

Registration

Prior registration is required. Please register from here.

Poster

PDF