Strange Tales from Edo

Rewriting Chinese Fiction in Early Modern Japan

William D. Fleming

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Hardback

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English

Harvard University Press
25 December 2023

Translation & interpretation; Literature: history & criticism; Asian history

Series: Harvard East Asian Monographs

In Strange Tales from Edo, William Fleming paints a sweeping picture of Japan's engagement with Chinese fiction in the early modern period (1600–1868). Large-scale analyses of the full historical and bibliographical record-the first of their kind-document in detail the wholesale importation of Chinese fiction, the market for imported books and domestic reprint editions, and the critical role of manuscript practices-the ascendance of print culture notwithstanding-in the circulation of Chinese texts among Japanese readers and writers.

Bringing this big picture to life, Fleming also traces the journey of a text rarely mentioned in studies of early modern Japanese literature: Pu Songling's Liaozhai zhiyi (Strange Tales from Liaozhai Studio). An immediate favorite of readers on the continent, Liaozhai was long thought to have been virtually unknown in Japan until the modern period. Copies were imported in vanishingly small numbers, and the collection was never reprinted domestically. Yet beneath this surface of apparent neglect lies a rich hidden history of engagement and rewriting-hand-copying, annotation, criticism, translation, and adaptation-that opens up new perspectives on both the Chinese strange tale and its Japanese counterparts.

By: William D. Fleming
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 544g
ISBN: 9780674293809
ISBN 10: 0674293800
Series: Harvard East Asian Monographs
Pages: 312
Publication Date: 25 December 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

William D. Fleming is Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Reviews for Strange Tales from Edo: Rewriting Chinese Fiction in Early Modern Japan

It is difficult to overstate how impressive this book is. Through Fleming’s deft employment of diverse methodologies and his mastery of challenging materials, the reader gains a panoramic vision of the lives of Chinese fiction in early modern Japan, from importation and reprinting, through the subworlds of manuscript culture, and into the intrinsic dynamics of adaptations. And yet Fleming wears his erudition lightly, making the book an accessible, enjoyable, and often witty read. -- David C. Atherton * Journal of the American Oriental Society *