Araki Yasusada
Encyclopedia
Araki Yasusada was a non-existent Japan
ese poet, generally thought (though unverified) to be the creation of US
literature professor Kent Johnson. The publication of Yasusada's poetry by major literary journals such as the American Poetry Review, Grand Street and Conjunctions during the early 1990s created an embarrassing scandal for these publications, who had to defend themselves against charges that they only published the poetry because of political correctness
.
of the Hiroshima
atom bomb. He was born in 1907, attended Hiroshima University
(before it was even founded, in 1949), worked in the postal service and was conscripted into Japanese army during World War II
. He died of cancer in 1972. His son discovered his poems and notebooks and in 1991 they began to appear in print in the United States.
The 'notebooks' included editorial comments, smudged ink and illegible text, and other elaborate attempts to give the appearance of authenticity. They also included hints to their own unravelling, however, such as references to poets who probably would not be known to Japanese poets of the period and anachronistic references to things like scuba divers.
in Freeport, Illinois
, though he has never claimed authorship. Beliefs about Johnson's role as author stem in no small part from observations that Johnson edited the Yasusada texts for the Wesleyan University Press and Johnson's inclusion of Yasusada's poetry in his doctoral dissertation.
The texts that had been published in the poetry journals also were sent to various academics. They had been sent from a variety of locations and presented Yasusada as an invented persona that was used by one or more people who intended the keep the origin of the texts secret.
Johnson admitted to some critics that Yasusada was nothing but an invented pseudonym "somebody" used to conceal the writer's origin. Some editors who asked who the real writer was claim to have received different answers. One of them was that the real writer was "Tosa Motokiyu," one of the three "Japanese translators"- or at least 95% were his, the rest being Johnson's older work, which Motokiyu had requested to include in his Yasusada fiction. He continued to lecture on Yasusada and denied the hoax in interviews. At one stage he claimed that Motokiyu asked him to take credit before his death and that Motokiyu's name was yet another pseudonym.
There were a number of rumors about other supposed co-authors, including the leading avant-garde Mexican composer, Javier Alvarez, who appears as co-editor of the work with Johnson. Publishers demanded their money back and criticized the hoax. Wesleyan cancelled the publication of the poetry collection. Some critics noticed that Johnson had published similar poetry in 1986 under the name of Ogiwara Miyamori, in Ironwood magazine.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese poet, generally thought (though unverified) to be the creation of US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
literature professor Kent Johnson. The publication of Yasusada's poetry by major literary journals such as the American Poetry Review, Grand Street and Conjunctions during the early 1990s created an embarrassing scandal for these publications, who had to defend themselves against charges that they only published the poetry because of political correctness
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
.
Araki's Fictional Biography
Araki Yasusada was supposedly a survivorHibakusha
The surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are called , a Japanese word that literally translates to "explosion-affected people"...
of the Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
atom bomb. He was born in 1907, attended Hiroshima University
Hiroshima University
, located in the Japanese cities of Higashihiroshima and Hiroshima, was established 1949 by the merger of a number of national educational institutions.-History:Under the National School Establishment Law, Hiroshima University was established on May 31, 1949...
(before it was even founded, in 1949), worked in the postal service and was conscripted into Japanese army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He died of cancer in 1972. His son discovered his poems and notebooks and in 1991 they began to appear in print in the United States.
The 'notebooks' included editorial comments, smudged ink and illegible text, and other elaborate attempts to give the appearance of authenticity. They also included hints to their own unravelling, however, such as references to poets who probably would not be known to Japanese poets of the period and anachronistic references to things like scuba divers.
Kent Johnson
The real writer of the poems is widely believed to be Kent Johnson, professor of Highland Community CollegeHighland Community College (Illinois)
Highland Community College is a public two-year community college. Its main campus is located in Freeport, Illinois. The college is recognized by the Illinois Community College Board, and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and a member of the North Central Association.-History:Highland...
in Freeport, Illinois
Freeport, Illinois
Freeport is a city in and the county seat of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 26,443 at the 2000 census. The mayor of Freeport is George W...
, though he has never claimed authorship. Beliefs about Johnson's role as author stem in no small part from observations that Johnson edited the Yasusada texts for the Wesleyan University Press and Johnson's inclusion of Yasusada's poetry in his doctoral dissertation.
The texts that had been published in the poetry journals also were sent to various academics. They had been sent from a variety of locations and presented Yasusada as an invented persona that was used by one or more people who intended the keep the origin of the texts secret.
Johnson admitted to some critics that Yasusada was nothing but an invented pseudonym "somebody" used to conceal the writer's origin. Some editors who asked who the real writer was claim to have received different answers. One of them was that the real writer was "Tosa Motokiyu," one of the three "Japanese translators"- or at least 95% were his, the rest being Johnson's older work, which Motokiyu had requested to include in his Yasusada fiction. He continued to lecture on Yasusada and denied the hoax in interviews. At one stage he claimed that Motokiyu asked him to take credit before his death and that Motokiyu's name was yet another pseudonym.
There were a number of rumors about other supposed co-authors, including the leading avant-garde Mexican composer, Javier Alvarez, who appears as co-editor of the work with Johnson. Publishers demanded their money back and criticized the hoax. Wesleyan cancelled the publication of the poetry collection. Some critics noticed that Johnson had published similar poetry in 1986 under the name of Ogiwara Miyamori, in Ironwood magazine.
Criticism
After the 'hoax' was discovered, several journals rejected previously accepted poems. The hoax has allgedly been called "a criminal act" by Arthur Vogelsang, editor of American Poetry Review, which had previously published a special supplement of Yasusada poems, including an alleged portrait of the author, but in letters to the Boston Review he denied having used the phrase (see http://www.bostonreview.net/BR22.3/Vogelsang.html). But numerous critics were supportive, praising both the conceptual nature of the fiction and the quality of the writing.External links
- Hyper-Authorship: The Case of Araki Yasusada
- The Hiroshima Poetry Hoax
- "Ruthven’s Faking Literature, Forging Literature and Faking Forged Literature"
- Arthur Vogelsang's Letter to editors of the Boston Review
- Three Footnotes: Eliot Weinberger Eliot WeinbergerEliot WeinbergerEliot Weinberger is a contemporary American writer, essayist, editor, and translator. His work regularly appears in translation and has been published in some thirty languages...
on the Yasusada affair