Japan Brontë Society 39th Annual Conference

The 39th Conference of the Japan Brontë Society takes place today:

Japan Brontë Society

39th Annual Conference Program 2024

Date: Saturday, October 19, 2024, 9:50 AM to 5:30 PM

Venue: Kobe City College of Nursing, Education Building West Wing, Room W13

Address: 3-4 Gakuen Nishi-machi, Nishi-ku, Kobe 

Here you can find the complete program in Japanese.

★Reception: 9:20 AM onwards

Master of Ceremonies: Hiroki Takigawa, Lecturer, Osaka Institute of Technology

★Opening Remarks: 9:50 AM

Takeshi Sakamoto, Professor Emeritus, Kansai University

★Research Presentations: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Chair: Chizuko Watari, Former Professor, Kansai Gaidai University

Translators' "Wuthering Heights" - Focusing on the Author's Image

Hidehiro Gyoda, Doctoral Student, Hokkaido University Graduate School

Narrative theorist Gérard Genette called the elements that regulate the reception of a text by connecting with the narrative (the main body of the text) as paratext. This presentation aims to trace the evolution of Emily Brontë's (1818-1848) image held by successive Japanese translators of "Wuthering Heights," using prefaces, afterwords, and commentaries (paratexts in the narrow sense) attached to translated editions as source material. The representation of the author, as background information (paratext in the broad sense), influences the reception of the work. Especially for the Brontë sisters, as Lucasta Miller detailed in "The Brontë Myth" (2001), various author images have been established to the extent that they are described as "Brontë myths." This presentation will follow the changes in Japanese translators' images of Emily Brontë by comparing and contrasting the paratexts of each translation in chronological order, focusing particularly on how they fill the gaps in the largely unknown biography.

Pet Dogs and "Femininity": Animal Representation in Charlotte Brontë's "Villette"

Rie Baba, Doctoral Student, University of Birmingham

This presentation points out that in "Villette," the image of pet dogs plays an important role in highlighting Lucy Snowe's complex emotions and interpreting the work. The word "pet" has meant "companion animal" from the Victorian era to the present, while metaphorically it has also functioned as a term associated with pampering and dependency, such as "favorite" or "darling." In the Victorian era, pet dogs evoked the image of pampered lap dogs and were sometimes used as derogatory expressions, while also functioning as symbols of femininity embodied by ideal mothers and wives. "Villette" depicts Lucy's longing for and rejection of middle-class domestic femininity. Through the image of pet dogs, femininity that conforms to patriarchal values in the Victorian era is portrayed positively, while at the same time, this image also acts to critically distance itself from similar femininity.

Chair: Akiko Kimura, Professor, Waseda University

Emily Brontë and Ludwig Tieck

Chihiro Sakuma, Assistant Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University

This presentation explores the connections between Emily Brontë (1818-48) and Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853). While Paula Sulivan suggested a connection between "Tieck's Bluebeard" published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (Feb. 1833) and "Jane Eyre" (1847), there seems to be no previous research directly mentioning the connection between Emily and Tieck. Considering that an article about Tieck's short story was published in Fraser's Magazine (Nov. 1831), the possibility that his works caught Emily's eye cannot be ruled out. I would like to analyze the articles published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine and Fraser's Magazine along with "Wuthering Heights" (1847) to consider Tieck's influence.

Soundscapes in Poetry - The Resonance of Emily Brontë's Poems

Yoko Gonaka, Part-time Lecturer, Kindai University

Many literary figures create poetry with the awareness that their poems will be recited. As Bob Duckett states that all the Brontë children were "capable and knowledgeable musicians," the Brontë siblings had a musical background. Charlotte Brontë (1816-55) described her sister Emily Brontë's (1818-48) poetry as having "a peculiar music—wild, melancholy, and elevating." This presentation aims to analyze the poetic text focusing on resonance and rhythm, which are important auditory elements in poetry, and consider how skillfully the poet chooses words to depict the poetic scenery. We will examine what auditory images are brought about when Emily Brontë's poems are recited and verify the musical artistry seen in her poetry.

-- Break --

★Host Institution's Greeting: 1:00 PM - 1:10 PM

Koji Egawa, President, Kobe City College of Nursing

★General Meeting: 1:10 PM - 1:40 PM

Chair: Miho Katayama, Associate Professor, Osaka Seikei University

Report from the Secretariat: Mari Takumi, Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts

★Encouragement Award Report

Mie Abe, Chair of the Japan Brontë Society Encouragement Award Committee, Professor, Shoin University

★President's Address

Michiko Kurisu, Professor Emeritus, Daito Bunka University

★Conference Committee Chair's Address

Rie Yamauchi, Professor, Kobe City College of Nursing

★Lecture: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Chair: Yumiko Hirono, Vice Director, Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kyoto University

Title: "The Realm of Translation - From My Translations of 'Wuthering Heights' and 'The Mill on the Floss'"

Midori Uematsu, Professor Emeritus, Wayo Women's University

★Symposium: 3:10 PM - 5:20 PM

"Animal Representation and Feminism: The Cases of the Brontë Sisters, Joyce, and Woolf"

Chair and Presenter: Nobumitsu Ukai, Professor, Kyushu University

In recent years, there has been a trend in research to find expressions of feminist issues in the way animals are depicted. Convincing examples of such research include analyses that draw parallels between the situation of women being treated as inferior to men or subordinate to men, and the situations in which animals and pets are placed. The expression of animals is not simple; while bestiality can correspond to the violent aspects of men, the ferocity of animals can also symbolize the anger of oppressed women towards men. Additionally, focusing on animal representation can sometimes reveal unexpected elements of feminist issues depicted in works. In this symposium, we will examine the Brontë sisters, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf from the perspective of animal representation and feminism, considering how Joyce and Woolf in the 20th century inherited and developed the legacy of the 19th-century Brontë sisters.

Heathcliff as an Outsider and Bestiality

Nobumitsu Ukai, Professor, Kyushu University

In my presentation, I will first discuss Anne Brontë's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," examining the overlap between women's oppressed position and animal representation. Then, I will focus on the expression of Bertha's oppressed position and anger towards men in Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre" from the perspective of animal-related expressions. Subsequently, I will analyze the animal representation in Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights." Heathcliff is a villainous male who oppresses women such as Isabella and the second Catherine, and his villainy is also reflected in his attitude towards animals. However, as an outsider, Heathcliff is also a character who, like women, is oppressed within patriarchal society. I would like to consider the meaning of Heathcliff's inhuman bestiality, which resonates with the first Catherine who loves wild things, from a feminist perspective.

Bloom Cooking Breakfast and the Black Cat - Reading the Fourth Episode of "Ulysses"

Keiko Niina, Associate Professor, University of Miyazaki

The fourth episode of "Ulysses" (1922) begins with a kitchen scene where the protagonist Leopold Bloom is busy preparing breakfast, thinking about his favorite grilled lamb kidneys and his beloved wife Molly's preferences. There's a black cat (female) begging Bloom for food, and he interacts with it. He prepares breakfast for his wife, who is still in bed, and a separate menu for himself. Why does Bloom make breakfast for Molly? In fact, he even brings Molly's breakfast to her bed, but what does this mean? Also, why is there a black cat in the Bloom household? What is the significance of this black cat in the story? By asking these questions, I want to deeply interpret the circumstances of the Bloom family while explaining the new world that Joyce presents in "Ulysses."

The Border-Crossing Orlando

Hiromi Harada, Lecturer, National Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu College

Virginia Woolf's "Orlando" (1928) is a unique biographical novel in which the protagonist Orlando hardly ages for about 300 years and even undergoes a sex change from male to female during that time. Due to its characteristic topics such as sex change and androgyny, this work is often discussed from feminist, gender, and queer perspectives, but what happens when we find the presence of animals in it? Derek Ryan focuses on the dogs that appear in this work and points out the connection between sexuality and animality for Woolf by reading it as a schema of Orlando, who crosses the boundaries between male and female, and the dogs who experience or witness such identity crossings. In this presentation, using Ryan's observation as a guideline, I would like to reread "Orlando" from the perspective of feminism and animal representation, focusing particularly on Orlando's various crossings of boundaries such as male/female and human/animal.

★Closing Remarks: 5:20 PM

Michiko Soya, Professor Emeritus, Kobe Kaisei College for Women