Movement and Suspension：A Stylistic Study of Rībi Hideo’s Novels

Abstract

Since the early 1990s literary works that critics would later call “border-crossing literature” (<i>ekkyō bungaku</i>) have emerged on the Japanese literary scene. These works, which are primarily characterized by being written in Japanese by non-native authors, have to-date tended to challenge the concept of “Japanese literature”. A number of studies have explored this very issue in taking into account some similarity with literary genres such as the “Japanese literature of Korean residents in Japan” (<i>Zainichi chōsenjin bungaku</i>). It should be noted, however, that today’s border-crossing writers use Japanese language for personal—or even esthetic—reason unlike postcolonial writers who could not have any other option than writing in their colonizer’s language. In that respect, what seems necessary today is also an analysis that takes a closer look at how today’s border-crossing writers write in Japanese language, namely their writing style. This paper adopts this approach in dealing with Rībi Hideo’s novels, with a particular focus on the fact that most of them feature the theme of a form of travel which is not characterized by the idea of free-flowing movement. By analyzing some relevant examples, I show how this American author develops his original writing style, which is central to his narratives.