CRONACHE DI VITA URBANA DA EDO A TŌKYŌ

Gala Maria Follaco

doi:10.6093/978-88-6719-312-7

CRONACHE DI VITA URBANA DA EDO A TŌKYŌ: Gli hanjōki nei periodi Tokugawa, Meiji e Taishō

Authors

Gala Maria Follaco

University of Naples L'Orientale

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6093/978-88-6719-312-7

Keywords:

1) Urban representation, 2) Literary modernization, 3) Hanjōki, 4) Kanbun, 5) Japanese Modern Novel

Synopsis

Publisher: UniorPress

Series: Miscellaneous

Pages: 216

Language: Italian

NBN:

Abstract: Within the broader context of literary modernization during the Meiji period, the hanjōki (chronicles of prosperity) emerge as a unique and elusive textual phenomenon, situated at the crossroads of topography, literature, and social critique. Despite their pronounced focus on urban space—which thematically aligns them with the emerging modern canon—hanjōki were ultimately excluded from it for two fundamental reasons: they are not novels, and they are predominantly written in Sinitic (kanbun), at a time when vernacular Japanese was being promoted as the language of modern literature. This volume traces the evolution of the hanjōki tradition from Terakado Seiken’s Edo hanjōki (1832–1836) to texts published in the early Shōwa period, examining their role in the representation and construction of modern urban space. The so-called “historical hanjōki,” which remain faithful to the original model, adopt a humorous and subversive tone, using the motif of “prosperity” as a narrative device to deliver a biting critique of social decline. Although marginal within the literary canon, their influence is nevertheless perceptible in the urban sensibilities of modern authors who read and drew direct inspiration from them. This study focuses on key moments in both urban and literary transformation, such as the pivotal year 1874—which saw the concurrent publication of four hanjōki—and analyzes the subsequent diversification of the genre, culminating in its hybridization into touristic and informational formats. Ultimately, this work offers a critical reassessment of the hanjōki’s position in Japanese literary history, foregrounding their contribution to the literary depiction of the city and their role in the development of the modern novel.

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Author Biography

Gala Maria Follaco, University of Naples L'Orientale

Gala Maria Follaco is an Associate Professor of Japanese Language and Literature at the Università Degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” in Italy. Her research focuses on urban representation in modern and contemporary Japanese literature. Follaco has translated works by several modern and contemporary Japanese authors, and is the author of A Sense of the City: Modes of Urban Representation in the Works of Nagai Kafū (Brill, 2017). She is the editor of the volume Cultura Letteraria Giapponese. Le mille forme della scrittura dal VII al XXI secolo (Japanese literary culture: The myriad forms of writing from the 7th to the 21st century; Hoepli, 2023). Among her contributions on the hanjōki, the study "A Soundscape of Urban Modernity: Voices and Din in 1874 Hanjōki", published in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 82:1 (2022).