Abstract
Keitai shôsetsu (mobile phone novels) have emerged as an important part of popular literary culture in contemporary Japan. The anonymous authors are predominantly young women in their teens and twenties (Erban 2009). The content is often autobiographical, dealing with themes rarely discussed aloud in Japanese society (Farrar 2009). This paper examines the significance of keitai shôsetsu for young women writers and readers and attempts to assess how study of the genre can most usefully contribute to the academic field of Japanese literature. It focuses on these key questions: What features of keitai shôsetsu can be related to other literary activity by and for Japanese women in both pre-modern and modern times? To what extent is the genre best viewed within the confines of the literary environment during the keitai shôsetsu boom (2007-2009)? Can the appeal of keitai shôsetsu be better understood in terms of global trends in the production, dissemination and consumption of texts through digital media?
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | British Association for Japanese Studies |
| Publication status | Unpublished - 15 Sep 2012 |