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Miyabe Miyuki's Place in the Development of Japanese Mystery Fiction

Chino, Noriko
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1230340838

Abstract Details

2008, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, East Asian Languages and Literatures.
This study examines the mystery fiction of Miyabe Miyuki (b. 1960) in the context of the development of mystery fiction in Japan. In the hands of Matsumoto Seichō, Japanese mystery fiction was transformed in the postwar period: the focus of mystery fiction shifted from the puzzle-solving schema to uncovering the motives and psychology of the criminals. Miyabe Miyuki has become a master of the techniques of the genre. But she deploys them for broader purposes other than entertainment. The extraordinary popularity of Miyabe’s fiction is surely due to the fact that it teaches us how to respond to, or at least think about, a chaotic world full of deception. In this sense, it represents the best of what Japanese mystery fiction has had to offer in the postwar period. Miyabe incorporates mixed genres in her mystery fiction, but her overriding concern has been the realistic depiction of her contemporary society and the social problems it faces. In this sense, she has inherited the mantle of Matsumoto Seichō. Indeed, as Japanese fiction has become more interior and consumer oriented or, much in line with what critics have called postmodernism – Miyabe’s brand of mystery fiction can be seen as the inheritor of Japan’s distinguished tradition of realism from naturalism to social realism. This study points out that the basic structure of most of Miyabe’s mystery fiction coincides with the generic framework of mystery fiction. This observance of generic markers grounds the narrative in a clearly comprehensive and entertaining story. At the same time, however, Miyabe emphasizes characterization and motivation, which are more important in her fiction than the puzzle-solving aspect. Thus, the process of solving the crime often “teaches” the reader about real life issues: identity theft, excesses of the mass media, and so forth. Even when Miyabe incorporates mixed genres, such as, features of horror, science fiction, or fantasy in her works, she consistently uses these to the larger purpose of delineating the social problems that afflict contemporary society.
Richard Torrance, PhD (Committee Chair)
Gabriella Modan, PhD (Committee Member)
William Tyler, PhD (Committee Member)
191 p.
Literature
Miyabe; Japanese; Mystery Fiction

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Chino, N. (2008). Miyabe Miyuki's Place in the Development of Japanese Mystery Fiction [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1230340838

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Chino, Noriko. Miyabe Miyuki's Place in the Development of Japanese Mystery Fiction. 2008. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1230340838.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Chino, Noriko. "Miyabe Miyuki's Place in the Development of Japanese Mystery Fiction." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1230340838

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1230340838
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.