Paul Anderer Books
Paul Anderer is a noted scholar of urban culture and the author of influential works exploring the boundaries of modern Japanese fiction and criticism. His writings delve into the distinct voices that shaped the literary landscape, offering deep insights into the cultural milieu of cities like Tokyo. As a professor at Columbia University, he shares his expertise in Japanese literature and film.
Kobayashi Hideo (1902-83) was the most important Japanese literary critic of the twentieth century, as crucial a presence in his own literary culture as Edmund Wilson, Walter Benjamin, and Roland Barthes were in theirs. It is not too much to say that modern literary criticism in Japan begins with Kobayashi. Echoes of his judgments and values are everywhere present in modern Japanese literary discourse. Indeed, his impact on later criticism is such that writing about Kobayashi has become something of a rite of passage for Japanese critics aspiring to literary leadership. This book is a collection of the most significant and enduring works from the period when Kobayashi established himself as Japan's preeminent literary critic. Reviews "Anderer has now given readers of English the opportunity to form their own conclusions [about Kobayashi]. This is no mean feat, as anyone who has dipped into the original texts knows, and for it he deserves much gratitude. . . . Given the difficulties of Kobayashi's style . . . translation is a paramount issue. Anderer has risen to the occasion admirably." ― Monumenta Nipponica "By making these widely read and often quoted essays available in English, Anderer has provided a valuable service." ― Japan Quarterly