Dr Victoria Young
- Kawashima Associate Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture
Contact
About
I gained my BA in Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge (Trinity Hall) in 2005, and my MA in Japanese Cultural Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London in 2007. I spent the next three and a half years at Waseda University in Tokyo, first as a MEXT scholar and later as a research assistant in the Academic Writing Centre. I then returned to the UK and received a PhD in Japanese Literature from the University of Leeds in 2016. After a year teaching at Newcastle University and working as an interpreter at Nissan Sunderland UK, I took up my current position in AMES in October 2017.
Research
Research interests
- Modern Japanese Literature
- Okinawan Literature
- Okinawan Studies
- Critical Theory
- Translation Studies
- Feminist Criticism
- Cultural Studies
- Gender Studies
I have a wide range of research interests that span modern Japanese literature, Okinawan literature, and literary history. I have been particularly interested in the roles of translation in shaping the field, as I explored in my first monograph, and the intersections between literature and history. I am currently developing a second book project focusing on the place of 'Vietnam' within modern Japanese and Okinawan literature.
Recent publications:
- Translation and the borders of Japanese Literature: Inciting Difference. London: Routledge, 2024.
- “Beyond ‘Transborder’: Tawada Yōko’s Vision of Another World Literature”, Japanese Language and Literature, 55/1 (April 2021), pp. 1-33.
- “Inciting the Past: Okinawan literature and the decolonising turn”, Japan Forum, 32/4 (Dec 2020), pp. 577-600.
Teaching and supervision
I welcome inquiries from prospective MPhil and PhD students who are interested in the areas of modern and contemporary Japanese literature, Okinawan Studies, 'post-war' literature, Japanese literary history, Japanese cinema and popular culture, and other related areas. I am particularly interested in projects that place literature in dialogue with questions of history and critical theory.
Current teaching:
AMES.1 - East Asian Popular and Visual Culture
J.8A - Modern Japanese Literature
J.15 - Modern Japanese Cultural History
Japanese Texts