Literaturwissenschaft in Japan

Abstract

The Japanese Society For German Studies, which has a membership of about 2500, organizes a conference twice a year, and a one-week seminar once a year on literary studies, linguistics and academic instruction for its members to which guests are invited from Germany as well as from Korea and China. It publishes a biannual periodical, Doitsu Bungaku (German Literature) in spring and autumn. The Society also co-operates closely with scholars of German studies in other Asian countries. It held an Asian Conference in 1999 in the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka, which was in fact a sequel to the conference which took place in Korea two years earlier. The conference of the International League of German Literary and Linguistic Studies (IVG) was held at Keio University in Tokyo in 1990. German studies in Japan not only focus on traditional themes and problems, but also on the contemporary literature of former East and West Germany and of the united Germany of today. Meanwhile, political themes, once a characteristic of post-war German literature, attract our attention less than before the collapse of socialism and we are looking for new developments in literature. Feminism, discourse analysis of post-structuralism, and contemporary theatre are now favourite topics of discussion, while Austrian literature also enjoys a general popularity. Students of German studies tend to be much more interested in practical language learning or in (sub)cultural and regional studies than in literature. We think it is necessary to respond to these academic interests and needs of the present day without delay.