Christopher Keaveney, professor of Japanese at Linfield College, will discuss Japanese baseball fiction, film and manga during a faculty lecture on Wednesday, May 9, at 7 p.m. in the Fred Meyer Lounge in Riley Hall at Linfield.
The Japanese passion for the game of baseball stretches back more than 100 years to the beginning of modern Japan in the Meiji period (1868-1912). Baseball has long been Japan’s national pastime and constitutes an important part of the country’s cultural fabric. In modern Japan, writers, filmmakers and artists have used baseball-themed works alternately to affirm the time-honored myths of Samurai baseball and to challenge the rigid cultural values and assumptions resulting from those myths. Baseball has served in the modern era as a cultural touchstone to which artists have returned again and again.
This presentation summarizes the content of Keaveney’s forthcoming book, “Contesting the Myths of Samurai Baseball,” and will introduce some of the defining works of Japanese baseball fiction, film and manga.
At Linfield since 1997, Keaveney holds a bachelor’s degree from Manhattan College and a master’s and Ph.D. from Washington University.
The lecture is free and open to the public and will be livestreamed on the Linfield College Facebook page. The Linfield faculty lecture series offers one presentation each month. For more information, call 503-883-2409.
