Writing the Love of Boys: Origins of Bishonen Culture in Modernist Japanese Literature

Description

Despite its centuries-long tradition of literary and artistic depictions of love between men, around the fin de siecle Japanese culture began to portray same-sex desire as immoral. Writing the Love of Boys looks at the response to this mindset during the critical era of cultural ferment between the two world wars as a number of Japanese writers challenged the idea of love and desire between men as pathological.

Jeffrey Angles is associate professor of modern Japanese literature and translation studies at Western Michigan University.

"Writing the Love of Boys makes an important contribution to the study of sexuality in modern Japan. Jeffrey Angles thoughtfully examines the representation of male-male sexuality in the work of three prewar Japanese writers, offering insightful commentary on the specific features of how each writer depicts male-male desire and uses their texts as a lens through which to explore larger currents in the literary and sexual culture of the time." -Jim Reichert, author of In the Company of Men: Representations of Male-Male Sexuality in Meiji Literature "Angles vividly resurrects a current of Japanese literary modernism-namely, its estheticization of the 'love of boys'-that previous narratives have obscured. From the perspective of queer history and culture the trio of authors on whom he focuses-Kaita, Ranpo, Taruho-form a fascinating and lastingly influential lineage." -Gregory Pflugfelder, Columbia University