In the Realm of a Dying Emperor
A Portrait of Japan at Century's End
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6082480 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Winston Davis (corresponding author), Norma Field |
| Year | 1993 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 147 |
| Publication date | 1993-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Japanese Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0095-6848 • E-ISSN: 1549-4721 |
| Publisher | University of California Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2307/132868 |
| OpenAlex | W2509355243 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 1 |
Norma Field's In the Realm of a Dying Emperor is a study of dissent in a country that-consciously or unconsciously-seems to stifle the slightest hint of non-conformity. In marvelously rich prose that not only ornaments her work but reveals its deepest insights, Field examines the lives of three unlikely political recusants: a widow, a mayor, and a supermarket owner. Around their stories she weaves memories of her own childhood and family life in Japan. In the Prologue, the author skillfully sets the stage for her discussion of dissent by unleashing a flood of memories associated with spirithaunted August, the month she returned to Japan for sabbatical research, and also the month of her departure for America one year later. Returning to Japan was awkward. The child of a biracial marriage, she went back to Japan as a half-breed (as she describes herself) to become again daughter, granddaughter, and even niece, a process akin to regenerating amputated limbs (p. 8). Arriving just in time to witness the nation's vigil over its dying emperor, she frames the book as a meditation on the death of Hirohito . . . and the death-in-life quality of daily routine in the world's most successful economy. The book is also, she says, an act of paying homage to those who resist the comforts of amnesia and the lure of fabulous consumption, who insist on thinking of the past and the present against each other (pp. ix-x). Indeed, the book is all of this. The two Augusts of 1988 and 1989 provide the framework-and the root metaphors of amnesia and remembering-for a book that combines autobiography, biography, travelogue, and political (and cultural) criticism
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Emperor · Portrait · Realm · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Hermeneutics and Narrative Identity · History · Philippine History and Culture
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,31 |
| Citation span | 1994 - 2019 (26) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |