Global Literature Online Book Group: Session Four
Date and Time
Location
Life in the boondocks of rural Japan is anything but glamorous, and to escape her humdrum existence, Momoko, a "Lolita," fanaticizes about French rococo, dreams of living in the palace of Versailles, and decks herself out in the finest (and frilliest) of 18th century haute couture from an expensive Tokyo specialty store. Her dreams of an idyllic existence are rudely interrupted by the appearance of Ichigo, a tough-talking "Yanki" motorcycle-chick (on a tricked-out moped) who's part of a girls-only biker gang known as the Ponytails. Together, this unlikeliest of duos strikes out on a quest to find a legendary embroiderer, a journey that takes them to back-alley pachinko parlors, chic boutiques, and epic bike-punk battles. Novala Takemoto's hit novel Kamikaze Girls, already a cult-classic in Japan and the inspiration for an internationally acclaimed film of the same name, is more than a quirky coming-of-age tale, it's a new way of life.
Session Format
This online session will be conducted in an Adobe Connect virtual classroom space and can be accessed from any computer equipped with the latest version of Flash. An external headset and webcam is encouraged but not required for participation. Before a session test your internet connection and version of Flash for compatibility with AdobeConnect at this diagnostic link. Once registered participants will be provided with a URL for the online classroom.
The session will include a chance to discuss the novel with fellow educators and talk live with a scholar in the field.
Register for this program.
About the Presenter
Tomiko Yoda is the Takashima Professor of Japanese Humanities in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard. She previously taught at Duke, Cornell, and Stanford. She received her PhD in Japanese from Stanford in 1996. Professor Yoda's research focuses on modern and pre-modern Japanese literature, literary history, and media studies; issues of gender in contemporary Japan; and feminist theory. She is the author of Gender and National Literature: Heian Texts and the Constructions of Japanese Modernity (Duke, 2004) and co-editor with Harry Harootunian of Japan After Japan: Social and Cultural Life from the Recessionary 1990s to the Present (Duke, 2006). She has published articles in edited volumes and journals in both Japanese and English on topics of gender issues in contemporary Japanese economy and culture; Japanese literary studies; and the intersection of the two. Her forthcoming work, Girl Time: Gender and Postmodern Consumer Culture in Japan, examines gender construction in post-1960s Japanese consumer culture.
Pre-Reading
Participants are required to complete read the novel before the session. The sessions is free, but the book is not provided. Kamikaze Girls is available through online book sellers and library systems.
This event is part of an ongoing global literature online book group. A partnership of international study centers on Harvard's campus, this online reading series for K-12 educators explores literature from six global regions: Africa, Latin America, Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and the Islamic World. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to discuss works of global literature with experts and authors in monthly, online conversations.
Contact: Anna Mudd
Sponsors: The Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University, Harvard Committee on African Studies, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard, Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies Outreach Center, Harvard University's Asia Center