Masahiko Abe, MA (University of Tokyo), PhD (Cantab)
Professor – Japan in East Asia
Contact : mabe[at]L.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Profile
Masahiko ABE (1966- ) is an Associate Professor in English at the University of Tokyo. He did his BA and MA at the University of Tokyo and PhD at Cambridge University. His publications include Modernity and the Strategy of Boredom – Oe, Stevens and Avant-garde (2001), Improvisation and Literature (2004), An Introduction to Poetry in English (2007), On Slowmotion (2009), How English Works (2010), Understanding Japanese Fiction: Some Notes and Insights (2012), Staring and Literature (2012) and Discovering Poetry (2014). While contributing regularly to the book review site of Kinokuniya book store (http://booklog.kinokuniya.co.jp/), he is now working on topics such as ‘politeness,’ ‘ethics of stomach problems,’ ‘the idea of preparation’...etc. He is also a translator of Frank O’Connor’s short stories and Bernard Malamud’s The Magic Barrel. He won Waseda Literary Award in 1998 and Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities in 2013. The official website: http://abemasahiko.my.coocan.jp/
Research Interests
His primary research area is modern poetry, both British and American, but his interests also cover fiction, including works written in Japanese.
Selected Publications
An Introduction to Poetry in English (Tokyo: Kenkyusha, 2007) 『英詩のわかり方』
On Slowmotion (Tokyo: Nan-un-do, 2009) 『スローモーション考』
How English Works (Tokyo: Kenkyusha, 2010) 『英語文章読本』
Understanding Japanese Fiction: Some Notes and Insights (Tokyo: U of Tokyo P, 2012) 『小説的思考のススメ』
Staring and Literature (Tokyo: Iwanami, 2012) 『文学を＜凝視＞する』
Discovering Poetry (Tokyo: U of Tokyo P, 2014) 『詩的思考のめざめ』