Toward a “global novel:” An ecocritical reading of Tawada Yōko’s The Emissary

Francesco Eugenio Barbieri

doi:10.13135/1825-263X/7000

Francesco Eugenio Barbieri University of Turin

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13135/1825-263X/7000

Abstract

Aim of this paper is to re-read Tawada Yōko’s novel Kentōshi through the interpretative framework of the new literary category of the “global novel”. Moving from the description of environmental catastrophe my analysis will show how this novel by Tawada can represent not only the first work of this genre written by the author but, for the intrinsic value of Tawada’s literature itself, it can help shape and redefine the category of the global novel itself.

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Author Biography

Francesco Eugenio Barbieri, University of Turin

Francesco Eugenio Barbieri is postdoctoral researcher in Japanese Literature at the University of Turin where he teaches courses in Classical and Contemporary Japanese Literature.

After obtaining his PhD in Literary Theory at the University of Bologna, he spent two years in Japan with a postdoctoral fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He was also adjunct professor at the University of Catania (Ragusa) before joining the University of Turin.

The main focus of his research is the relationship between contemporary Japanese literature and globalization, with a comparative framework. He has published papers on the work of Tawada Yōko, as well as on the dynamics of circulation of Japanese literature in the global literary market.

He can be reached at: francescoeugenio.barbieri@unito.it