Biography
My research takes into consideration encounters between authors of Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912) and European racial ideology. Many of the era’s most famous literary figures went to Europe, and I investigate their experiences of racial melancholy during their studies there. Examining an author’s work across languages, genres, and disciplines, I intend to demonstrate that racial ideology was a prominent consideration in the works of many Meiji writers.
I utilize my background in German studies to further investigate Japanese intellectuals who studied abroad in German-speaking countries. My M.A. thesis focused on the Japanese doctor and author Mori Ōgai, who wrote medical studies in German and literary fiction in Japanese. By reading these works together, I argued that Ōgai was conscious of European racial ideology and actively confronting it in his writings.
My other research interests include resonances between East Asian and Asian-American literatures, racialization and East Asian popular media, Meiji era authors as polymaths and polyglots, and the translingual and interdisciplinary possibilities of area studies.