British Children's Literature in Japanese Culture: Wonderlands and Looking-Glasses [Hardcover]

Whether watching Studio Ghibli adaptations of British children's books, visiting Harry Potter sites in Britain or eating atAlice in Wonderland-themed restaurants in Tokyo, the Japanese have a close and multifaceted relationship with British children's literature. In this, the first comprehensive study to explore this engagement, Catherine Butler considers its many manifestations in print, on the screen, in tourist locations and throughout Japanese popular culture. Taking stock of the influence of literary works such asGulliver's Travels,Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,The Tale of Peter Rabbit,Tom's Midnight Garden, and the Harry Potter series, this lively account draws on literary criticism, translation, film and tourist studies to explore how British children's books have been selected, translated, understood, adapted and reworked into Japanese commercial, touristic and imaginative culture. Using theoretically informed case studies this book will consider both individual texts and their wider cultural contexts, translations and adaptations (such as the numerous adaptations of British children's books by Studio Ghibli and others), the dissemination of distinctive tropes such as magical schools into Japanese children's literature and popular culture, and the ways in which British children's books and their settings have become part of way that Japanese people understand Britain itself.Catherine Butleris a Professor of English at Cardiff University. Her academic books includeFour British Fantasists(2006),Reading History in Children's Books(2012) andLiterary Studies Deconstructed(2018). She has also edited numerous academic collections, and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal,Children's Literature in Education.

This is a highly original and significant work, bringing a new angle to children's literature studies and engaging an impressively large corpus. This is certain to be internationally leadinglS&