The “
L
iterature of the Catastrophe” as a Canon: from Genbaku Bungaku
to Fukushima Bungaku
Veronica De Pieri, Ca’ Foscari University, Italy/Paris INALCO, France
The International Conference on Japan & Japan Studies 2016
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
The literary responses to Fukushima disaster appeared in the last few years
highlighted the similarities with Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing
experiences as long as both tragedies were caused by an arguable usage of nuclear
power. What is remarkable, is that a seismically active area like Japan subjected to
earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions ever since has not ever taken a stand on
the “literature of the catastrophe” in itself. While the literature about Shoah got a
foothold as Holocaust novel, the Japanese
genbaku bungaku
was instead refused by
the Japanese
bundan
and by
hibakusha
themselves sounding a critical note for the
literary value of the testimonial accounts. Nowadays, the increasing number of post-
Fukushima literary works brought to the fore the need to reconsider the traditional
literary canon to revalue a production, the one regarding catastrophe, which especially
in Japan found literary expressions since the dawn of time: Kamo no Ch
ō
mei, Terada
Torahiko, Akutagawa Ry
ū
nosuke are just a few of the authors involved in the process
of transposing into words the trauma related to disasters that occurred in the country
and the necessary efforts to overcome them. This brief paper provides an excursus of
the critical debate concerning the relation between literature and canon to define the
literary responses to catastrophe. On one hand, it underlines the continuity of
genbaku
bungaku
themes, on the other hand, it reveals the innovative character of the newborn
Fukushima
bungaku
in terms of representing trauma not only in poetic and narrative
forms but also on social media.
Keywords: catastrophe, literature, canon, genbaku, Fukushima
iafor
The International Academic Forum
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