Sexuality and Edo Culture, 1750-1850: An International Conference

Sexuality in Edo culture has long been a taboo subject in literary histories and critical studies in spite of the fact that, as with other major cities, urban culture materialized in narratives grounded in sexual fantasies. Recently, scholars from many disciplines have been exploring the connection between the awareness of the body and self-consciousness of the city's culture so as to find a place for sexuality in teaching and research on Japan.

From August 17-20, 1995, at Indiana University, Bloomington, sexuality and urban culture will be the focus of attention at two special exhibitions and an international conference to be held here on campus. The exhibitions, at the Indiana University Art Museum and the Fine Arts Gallery, will include hand painted scrolls, hand-bound illustrated books, and wood-block prints from both the museum's collection and the Kinsey institute. Sumie Jones, an Indiana University faculty member in East Asian Languages and Cultures and Comparative Literature, will chair the conference as the culmination of her National Endowment for the Humanities sponsored collaborative project. In order to convey the multi-layered and multi-disciplinary aspect of Edo culture, over forty scholars with different specialties from Europe, Japan, and the United States have been invited to present papers and comments during the conference. Howard Hibbett, a distinguished translator and critic of Japanese Literature from Harvard University will give the keynote address. Other participants include: Norman Bryson, Harvard University; Naoki Sakai, Cornell University; Henry Smith, Columbia University; Haga Toru, Research Centre for Japanese Studies; Kobayashi Tadashi, Gakshuin University; Ueno Chizuko, University of Tokyo; and Jurgis Elisonas and Richard Rubinger, Indiana University.

The exhibitions and the conference have received major grant support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Japan Foundation, as well as other organizations. Registration materials are available. For further information, please contact Jason Lewis at the East Asian Studies Center.