Precarity discourses in Kirino Natsuo'sMetabola
The Okinawan stage, fractured selves and the ambiguity of contemporary existence
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6194720 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kristina Iwata-Weickgenannt (0009-0005-4715-1388, Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien Tokyo, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 141-161 |
| Publication date | 2012-06-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Japan Forum (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0955-5803 • E-ISSN: 1469-932X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09555803.2012.671843 |
| OpenAlex | W2081223670 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 19 |
Often exploring the very margins of society and thus frequently dealing with issues of poverty, oppression, as well as structures of gender and ethnic discrimination, Kirino Natsuo's literature has been labeled ‘neo-proletarian’. This analogy to the leftwing literature of the 1920s and 1930s is, however, clearly misleading. Through a close analysis of exploitation in Metabola, this article shows that contemporary representations of the casualization of the workplace can instead be read as testifying to the emergence of ‘precarity’ as a literary mode. The irregularity and permanent insecurity that characterize precarity are reflected in the struggles of the main protagonist, a former factory temp worker who, after a total loss of memory, is forced to (re-)construct an identity from scratch and ends up with a multiply fissured, ambiguous self. The analysis reveals that Kirino, by skilfully combining entertainment and sharp social criticism, addresses precarity on two levels: while on the one hand depicting the harsh working conditions of factory temp workers, on the other she expands the concept to reveal the pervasiveness of exploitation in contemporary society
Aesthetics · Ambiguity · Art · Linguistics · Oppression · Political science · Precarity · Proletariat · Sociology · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Gender Studies · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy · Socioeconomic Development in Asia
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Not Quite White
Okinawa and the structure of dependence
Japan and Okinawa
Islands of Discontent
Bodies of Evidence
Inside OUT
When dismissal becomes a business transaction
Constructing difference in Japan
Colonial desire
Colonial Desire
Woman uncovered
Imagined communities
The condition of postmodernity
Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
| Citations per year | 0.4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |