Calm and passion : a textual analysis of Reisei to jōnetsu no aida by Ekuni Kaori and Tsuji Hitonari

"This thesis is a textual analysis of the collaborative contemporary Japanese novel Reisei to jōnetsu no aida: calmi cuori appassionati ('Between calmness and passion', 2001) by Japanese authors Ekuni Kaori (1964- ) and Hitonari Tsuji (1959- ). It engages in character analysis based on theories of psychological narrative as proposed by Sarbin and Foucauldian notions of power and sexuality. This thesis argues that issues of memory function in the novel to generate a narrative of inaction and dysfunction, which leads to the unsatisfactory reunion of the two main characters Aoi and Junsei. The narrative is rendered more complex with the inclusion not only of sexual relationships and their inequality, but with the inclusion of ethnic issues and ethno-cultural value judgements on the part of the characters (and also the implied Japanese readers). Ekuni and Tsuji, although prolific, award-winning and acclaimed authors in Japan, are relatively unknown in the English-speaking world. Ekuni has only had one novel translated into English previously. This thesis aims to address the lack of critical study of their works and explicate the complexity of this collaborative text in which psychological currents and cross-cultural conflicts collide."

"Calm and passion : a textual analysis of Reisei to jōnetsu no aida by Ekuni Kaori and Tsuji Hitonari"