The Popularity of the “Shakaiha Mystery”：Narratives of Incidents in Japanese and Chinese Popular Culture

Abstract

This book conducts a comparative study of the social structures of popular culture in Japan and China through the analysis of mystery novels. Based on an analysis of Seicho Matsumoto’s works, which have been translated and published in China, the author of this book derives the concept of “incident stories,” and attempts to identify differences in the structure of popular culture in Japan and China in the differences in the types of narrative used to depict incidents. In particular, her research results, which trace the reception of Japanese socialist mysteries in China using a wealth of primary materials, are to be highly praised.