Amy Yamada: Difference between revisions

{{nihongo|'''Amy Yamada'''|山田 詠美|Yamada Eimi|}} extra=born February 82, 1959,}} is a popular but controversial contemporary Japanese writer who is most famous for her stories that address issues of [[sexuality]], [[racism]], and [[interracial marriage]],|interracial topicslove notand typically discussed openly in Japanese societymarriage]].<ref name="Kelsky">{{cite conference|title=Flirting with the Foreign: Interracial sex in Japan's "International Age"|booktitlebook-title=Global Local: cultural production and the transnational imaginary|last=Kelsky|first=Karen|editorseditor=Wilson, Rob|year=1996|publisher=Duke University Press|location=North Carolina, United States|isbn=0822317125|pages=173–192}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Marling|first=William H.|year=2006|title=How "American" Is Globalization?|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=0-8018-8353-9|location=Maryland, United States|page=[https://archive.org/details/howamericanisglo00marl_0/page/98 98]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/howamericanisglo00marl_0/page/98}}</ref> Her debut and subsequent popular success in the 1990s was a part of Japan's hip-hop and Black culture boom.<ref>{{Citation|last=Kelsky|first=Karen|chapter=Flirting with the Foreign|date=1996-05-27|pages=173–192|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=9780822381990|doi=10.1215/9780822381990-008|title=Global/Local}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Russell|first=John|chapter=Race and Reflexivity|date=2012-06-01|pages=296–318|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=9780822397861|doi=10.1215/9780822397861-017|title=Rereading Cultural Anthropology}}</ref> While she is most known for her stories of complicated and messy romantic love, she also writes on the daily minutiae of life (slice-of-life), child-raising, and bullying.

According to her interview with the Japanese magazine ''Bungei,'' during middle school she was moved by African-American [[soul music]] and began to read any novels she could find written by [[black people]], or featuring black people. She held a job in the [[Roppongi]] district of [[Tokyo]], an area rich with foreigners. In high school, she was a member of the Arts, Mountaineering, and Literature Club. Her favorite authors were [[Boris Vian]] and [[Françoise Sagan|Francoise Sagan]].

After graduating from high school in 1977, she entered [[Meiji University|Meiji University's]] Literature Department, but dropped out before graduating. AfterYamada had a short stint writing and drawing [[manga]], sheunder beganher writingreal novelsname in(Yamada 1980Futaba). ThoughHer hermanga worksdebuted garneredin some''Manga attention,Erogenica'' even receiving praise from Japanese literary critic {{nihongo|Jun Eto|江藤淳|Eto Jun}},and she onlywas achievedfeatured widespreadas recognition in 1985, whena ''Bedtime Eyesdōjin'' won(fanfic) theand [[Bungeifemale Prize]].<ref>{{citeerotic web|manga last = Jewel| first = Mark| title = The Japanese Literature Home Page| url = http://www.jlit.net/authors_works/modernlit/bio_briefs/t_to_z_briefsartist.html#yamada_eimi| accessdateWhile =working 2007part-08-09time, |archiveurlshe =published http://web.archive.org/web/20070927215446/http://www.jlit.net/authors_works/modernlit/bio_briefs/t_to_z_briefs.html#yamada_eimi''Sugar <!--Bar'' Bot(''Shugā retrievedBā'' archive1981), -->''Miss |archivedate = 2007-09-27}}</ref> In writingDoll'' (''BedtimeMisu EyesDōru'' 1986), Yamada drew upon her experiences with black people and black''Yokosuka cultureFreaky'' and(''Yokosuka combined them with the Japanese literaryFurīkī'' tradition1986).

In Yamada's second collection of works, ''Jesse's Spine,'' Yamada depicts the experiences of a woman who is learning to adjust to life with her lover's child from another relationship. The writing style of this work has been compared to [[William Saroyan]]'s novel, ''Papa You're Crazy.''.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}} Through her depiction of the child's perspective on the world, her bookshe was a critical success, earning hernominated ayet nominationagain for the [[Akutagawa Prize]] for(and newsubsequently authors. In her short novels ''Classroomagain for the Abandoned Dead,''The ''Afterschool Music,'' and ''I Can't Study,'' Yamada tackles the topics of childhood life, [[bullying]], and school life. In an interview with ''[[Bungei Shunjū]]'' upon winning the Akutagawa Prize, [[Risa Wataya]] and [[Hitomi Kanehara]] namedPiano YamadaPlayer's Fingers''Afterschool Music'' as one of their major influences), explainingthough thatshe herdid worksnot werereceive one of the greatest depictions of modern Japanit.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

* 1989 [[Hirabayashi Taiko]] Bungaku Prize]] ---''Classroom for the Abandoned Dead (Fūsō no Kyōshitsu, 風葬の教室 )''

* [httphttps://wwwweb.booksfromjapanarchive.jporg/authorsweb/item20010217191538/433http://j-pop.com/feature/archive/02_j_fiction/amy-yamada.html Amy Yamada] at J'Lit Books from Japan {{enin iconlang|en}}

*{{Wayback |date=20010217191538webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/20010217191538/http://j-pop.com/feature/archive/02_j_fiction/amy.html |date=February 17, 2001 |title=J-pop.com review of ''Trash'' }}

[[Category:Winners of the Naoki Prize winners]]