Overview
- Argues that the train is a loaded trope for reconfiguring narrative theories past their “spatial turn”
- Exploits literary and cinematic narratives and interdisciplinary perspectives to draw connections to narrative
- Pays attention to the formation of affordances in terms of passenger experience of the train carriage
Part of the book series: Geocriticism and Spatial Literary Studies (GSLS)
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About this book
Train Travel as Embodied Space-Time in Narrative Theory argues that the train is a loaded trope for reconfiguring narrative theories past their “spatial turn.” Atsuko Sakaki’s method exploits intensive and rigorous close reading of literary and cinematic narratives on one hand, and on the other hand interdisciplinary perspectives that draw out larger connections to narrative theory. The book utilizes not only narratological frameworks but also concepts of space-focused humanity oriented social sciences, such as human geography, mobility studies, tourism studies, and qualitative/experience-based ethnography, in their post “narrative turn.” On this interface of narrative studies and spatial studies, this book pays concerted attention to the formation of affordances, or relations in which the human subject uses a space-time and things in it, in terms of passenger experience of the train carriage and its extension. Affiliation: Atsuko Sakaki, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
“Over the years, Atsuko Sakaki has produced a stunningly inspiring series of books that, although based on Japanese literature and art in a broad sense, consistently transcend the linguistic and cultural boundaries of their material and advance to essential questions in both theoretical and pragmatic terms. Her latest study on Train Travel as Embodied Space-Time in Narrative Theory is undoubtedly the culmination to date of her consistent expansion of perspectives. Masterfully interweaving readings of literary and cinematic narratives with interdisciplinary perspectives, she succeeds in creating a breathtakingly dense yet thrillingly readable cabinet piece: not only does she offer us fresh insights into canonical as well as little known works, but she also keeps us on our toes with her consistent deconstructions of central conceptualizations and, drawing on a wealth of philosophical and theoretical texts, in language as clear as it is sensual, brings us to new insights into human modes of being and ontologies.” (Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Professor Emerita, Japanese Studies, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)
“In this intricate study of the entanglement of trains and narratives, Sakaki transforms our understanding of both. Train Travel uncovers a radically different experience of trains and narratives: they do not merely travel from one place to another; they construct passage as such, an experience of mutual entrainment.” (Thomas Lamarre, University of Chicago, USA)
“Atsuko Sakaki’s brilliant study of the train in world literature and cinema reveals the train as vehicle, emblem, and trope, functioning throughout both physically and metaphysically. In Sakaki’s hands, the figure of the train not only traverses a diverse set of literary and filmic works, but also serves to forge passages between the imaginary spaces of translation, adaptation, and intermediality. Ultimately, this work is as much about trains of thought as it is about the trains that move thought from one place to another, one moment to another, always at the thresholds of the beyond.” (Akira Mizuta Lippit, University of Southern California, USA)
“In this intricate study of the entanglement of trains and narratives, Sakaki transforms our understanding of both. Train Travel uncovers a radically different experience of trains and narratives: they do not merely travel from one place to another; they construct passage as such, an experience of mutual entrainment.” (Thomas Lamarre, University of Chicago, USA)
“Atsuko Sakaki’s brilliant study of the train in world literature and cinema reveals the train as vehicle, emblem, and trope, functioning throughout both physically and metaphysically. In Sakaki’s hands, the figure of the train not only traverses a diverse set of literary and filmic works, but also serves to forge passages between the imaginary spaces of translation, adaptation, and intermediality. Ultimately, this work is as much about trains of thought as it is about the trains that move thought from one place to another, one moment to another, always at the thresholds of the beyond.” (Akira Mizuta Lippit, University of Southern California, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Atsuko Sakaki is Professor of East Asian studies and Comparative Literature at University of Toronto, Canada. She is the author of many articles and three books, including Recontextualizing Texts: Narrative Performance in Modern Japanese Fiction (Harvard, 1999) and The Rhetoric of Photography in Modern Japanese Literature (Brill 2015).
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Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Train Travel as Embodied Space-Time in Narrative Theory
Authors: Atsuko Sakaki
Series Title: Geocriticism and Spatial Literary Studies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40548-8
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-40547-1Published: 02 November 2023
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-40550-1Published: 19 November 2024
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-40548-8Published: 01 November 2023
Series ISSN: 2578-9694
Series E-ISSN: 2634-5188
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVI, 286
Topics: Contemporary Literature, Literary Theory, Literature, general, Cultural Studies