IISES International Academic Conference, Venice

SHIMAO TOSHIO'S TRAVELS INTO THE OTHER REALM

NINA HABJAN VILLARREAL

Abstract:

This presentation will focus on the travels and experiences of the Japanese writer Shimao Toshio (1917-1986) in Eastern Europe. I will explore how Shimao, as an author known for his works that redefine the Japanese I-novel in the sometimes surrealist, dreamlike ways, approaches the genre of non-fiction, using it to further explore his dreamlike narratives in the novels published after his travels abroad. I will particularly focus on his travelogue "Yume no kage wo motomete" ("Seeking the Shadows of Dreams," 1975) and his semi-autobiographical novel "Hi no utsuroi" ("The Passing of Days," 1977), seeing how the narrative of his travel writing continues to play a role in the novel, where the boundaries between the two realities and the narrators describing and experiencing them begin to blur.

Keywords: Shimao Toshio, Japanese literature, travel writing, I-novel, dreams, reality