marran

Japan Studies Colloquium Series 2007-08

=Confessions of an Ex-Con: Reading Repentance in Meiji-era Japan=

Venue, tba
 * Christine Marran** (University of Minnesota) October 29. 3:00 p.m.

Narratives referred to as “zangemono” have varied over the centuries. Zangemono was originally a term used to describe religious tales of conversion in medieval Japan. In the Meiji period, zange were written by non-religious and religious authors such that the form appears to be a precursor to the modern confessional novel. This talk focuses on this moment in modernity when the concept of zange was engaged to write about the self in a variety of texts.

Looking at repentance narratives by female ex-convicts and discussions of the term within literary circles, this talk explores whether the gender of the author mattered in speaking of the self and the relevance of zange in the modern history of confessional literature.