Literature, Modernity, and the Practice of Resistance ― Japanese and Taiwanese Fiction, 1960-1990

Hillenbrand (Chinese studies, U. of Oxford) moves beyond the East-West framework that has traditionally dominated comparative enquiry by exploring contemporary East Asian literature on its own terms. In comparing the literature of Japan and Taiwan in 1960 to 1990, she combines close readings of paradigmatic texts with in-depth analyses of the historical, social and ideological contexts in which these works are situated and investigates the form and function of literary practice within the "miracle" societies of industrialized East Asia. Hillenbrand discusses the role of the city and sexuality as metaphoric modes for authors writing in these modern contexts. Her study includes literary representations of the geopolitical hegemony exercised by the US in cold war East Asia. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Margaret Hillenbrand, D.Phil. (2003), University of Oxford, is Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies. She has published articles on East Asian literature and culture in a range of scholarly journals.