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In the Woods of Memory

Shun Medoruma Takuma Sminkey Kyle Ikeda

$39.95

Paperback

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English
Stone Bridge Press
13 June 2017
A powerful and thought-provoking novel that raises important questions about World War II, war memory, and US imperialism and blowback.

In the Woods of Memory is a powerful, thought-provoking novel that focuses on two incidents during the Battle of Okinawa, 1945: the sexual assault on Sayoko, 17, by four US soldiers and her friend Seiji's attempt at revenge.

Narrations through nine points of view, Japanese and American, from 1945 to the present day reveal the full complexity of events and how war trauma inevitably ripples through the generations.
By:  
Afterword by:  
Translated by:  
Imprint:   Stone Bridge Press
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 203mm,  Width: 127mm, 
ISBN:   9781611720372
ISBN 10:   1611720370
Pages:   208
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Fumi (1945) Seiji (1945) Kayo (2005) Hisako (2005) Hisako and Fumi (2005) Seiji (2005) Videotape from M (2005) J’s Grandfather (1945) Bullied Girl (2005) Tamiko (2005) Letter from an Interpreter (2005)

Shun Medoruma was born in Nakijin, Okinawa on October 6, 1960. After graduating from the University of Ryukyus, he worked as a guard and later as a teacher. He resigned from teaching in 2003. He has written unique novels that are based on Okinawan nature, history, and climate, focusing especially on the Battle of Okinawa and memories of that war experience. Two of his best stories, ""Suiteki"" and ""Mabuigumi"" are concerned with war memory. Medoruma also focuses on the current base issue and how the US military impacts on Okinawa. Another element of Medoruma's fiction is his use of uchina-guchi or Okinawan language. Medoruma often expresses his strong anti-base political views through his articles in the local newspapers-and in his blog. AWARDS: 11th Ryukyu Shinpo Short Story Prize in 1983 for ""Gyogunki [Diary of a School of Fish]."" 12th New Okinawa Literature Prize in 1986 for ""Heiwa dori to nazukerareta machi o aruite."" 27th Kyushu Arts Literature Prize in 1997 for ""Suiteki."" 117th Akutagawa Prize in 1997 for ""Suiteki."" 26th Yasunari Kawabata Literary Award in 2000 for ""Mabuigumi [Soul-Stuffing]."" Shohei Kiyama Literary Award in 2000 for ""Mabuigumi [Soul-Stuffing]."" TakumaSminkey (n Paul Sminkey) (Translator) is a professor in the Department of British and American Language and Culture at Okinawa International University. He has been living in Japan for over twenty years and acquired Japanese citizenship in 2010. He received a master's degree in English literature from Temple University and a master's in Advanced Japanese Studies from Sheffield University. His translations include A Rabbit's Eyes by Haitani Kenjiro (2005) and Ichigensan-The Newcomer by David Zoppetti (2011). Kyle Ikeda (Afterword) received his doctorate in Japanese from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa in 2007 and is now an associate professor at the University of Vermont. He is one of the leading researchers in English on Medoruma Shun. His comprehensive analysis of Medoruma's work, Okinawan War Memory: Transgenerational Trauma and the War Fiction of Medoruma, was published in 2014.

Reviews for In the Woods of Memory

Shun Medoruma has emerged as one of Okinawa's leading literary figures and critical intellectual voices since receiving the coveted Akutagawa Prize in 1997. . . . His writing about Okinawan war memory and trauma stands out as particularly powerful and important. Kyle Ikeda, University of Vermont, author of <i>Okinawan War Memory: Transgenerational Trauma and the Fiction of Medoruma Shun</i> (Routledge, 2014) Generally regarded as Okinawa's most adventurous and promising writer of fiction today. Michael Molasky, University of Minnesota, author of <i>The American Occupation of Japan and Okinawa: Literature and Memory</i> (Routledge, 1999) Medoruma's uniquely visceral and realistic writing style creates a powerful portrait of a chain of sorrow that has destroyed human beings through the generations. Readers will yet again be astonished by the talents of the author, who obviously released this complex work after thoroughly crafting it. Sadatoshi Oshiro, author Shun Medoruma s 'literature of resistance' has evolved to a higher level through his inventive use of narration, which seems to reverberate through the cave in the woods described in this serialized novel. The work has also taken him one more solid step toward becoming a world-renowned literary figure. Yoshiaki Koshikawa, Meiji University


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