Bungei Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 1 (1962) honorable mention
Meisei Gotō
ごとう めいせい
Gotō Meisei
Aliases:
明正（本名）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1932-04-04 （Yonghung (Yŏnghŭng) County, South Hamgyong Province, Japanese-occupied Korea (now part of North Korea)）
- Died
- 1999-08-02 （Kinki University Hospital, Osaka, Japan） age 67
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
- Residence History
- South Hamgyong (birthplace; now North Korea) → Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan (after repatriation) → Tokyo, Japan (moved to Tokyo for work) → Osaka Prefecture, Japan (faculty at Kinki University; later residence)
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, University professor, Editor
- Active Years
- 1955-1999
- Affiliations
- Hakuhodo (advertising agency), Heibon Publishing (now Magazine House), Kinki University, Faculty of Letters (Professor)
- Memberships
- Contributor/member of literary circle 'Bungei Nihon', Contributor/member of literary circle 'Entaku', Contributor/member of literary circle 'Sai', Responsible editor, quarterly magazine 'Buntai'
- Influenced By
- Nikolai Gogol, Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Nobuo Kojima
- Influenced
- Yoko Tawada, Seiko Ito, Hikaru Okuizumi
- Nominations
- Akutagawa Prize nominee (1967): 'Ningen no Byōki' (Human Illness), Akutagawa Prize nominee (1968): 'Report from S Hot Springs' and 'Private Life', Akutagawa Prize nominee (1969): 'Waraijigoku' (Laughing Hell)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waseda University, Second Faculty of Letters | Second Faculty of Letters | Department of Russian Literature | 文学士 | 1950年代（在学中に1955年に入選） | Japan |
Waseda University, Second Faculty of Letters
Second Faculty of Letters
/ Department of Russian Literature
Degree:
文学士
Period:
1950年代（在学中に1955年に入選）
Country:
Japan
While a student (1950s), in 1955 he won a national student fiction contest with 'A Record of Red and Black'.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Bungei Prize (Honorable Mention) | Kankei (Relations) | — | Bungei (literary magazine) | honorable mention |
| 1977 | Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize | Yume-katari (Dream Narration) | — | Hirabayashi Taiko Prize Selection Committee | recipient |
| 1981 | Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Prize | Yoshino Dayū | — | Tanizaki Prize Selection Committee | recipient |
| 1990 | Art Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education Award) | Ad Balloon Above the Burial Mound | — | Agency for Cultural Affairs | recipient |
Bungei Prize (Honorable Mention)
1962
Work:
Kankei (Relations)
Organization:
Bungei (literary magazine)
Result:
honorable mention
Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize
1977
Work:
Yume-katari (Dream Narration)
Organization:
Hirabayashi Taiko Prize Selection Committee
Result:
recipient
Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Prize
1981
Work:
Yoshino Dayū
Organization:
Tanizaki Prize Selection Committee
Result:
recipient
Art Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education Award)
1990
Work:
Ad Balloon Above the Burial Mound
Organization:
Agency for Cultural Affairs
Result:
recipient
Awards & Nominations
Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 5 (1977) award
Tanizaki Junichiro Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 17 (1981) award
Art Encouragement Prize for Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
1 appearances
-
Edition 40 (1990) award
Works
Major Works
A Record of Red and Black
1955 Novel/Short storyEarly work published while still a student; a short piece showing personal perspective and sharp observation.
individual vs societymemory
Laughing Hell
1969 Novel/Short storyOne of the representative works combining black humor and grotesque perspectives; a notable short/medium-length piece.
humorhuman relationshipsgrotesque
Encirclement (Hasami-uchi)
1973 NovelA novel with experimental structure inspired in part by Gogol's 'The Overcoat'; praised by critics.
transformationsocial gaze
Dream Narration
1976 Novel/EssaysA work centered on dreams and memory; awarded the Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize in 1977.
dreamsmemoryinterior life
Yoshino Dayū
1981 NovelAn ambitious work drawing on history and legend; recipient of the Tanizaki Prize in 1981.
historylegendidentity
Ad Balloon Above the Burial Mound
1989 NovelOne of his mature representative works blending social perspective, humor and pathos; awarded the Art Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education) in 1990.
societyhumorloss
Bibliography
- Private Life
- Laughing Hell
- What
- Unwritten Reports
- Relations
- Encirclement
- Dream Narration
- Yoshino Dayū
- Ad Balloon Above the Burial Mound
- Shintoku Questions and Answers
Translations by Author
- Ugetsu Monogatari (modern-language version, contributor/translator)
- Ise Monogatari & Tosa Nikki (co-editor/translator)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- avant-gardeexperimental structurescritical humorgrotesque perspective
- Recurring Motifs
- dysfunctional human relationshipsdreams and memorydefamiliarization of the everydaywar and repatriation shadows
Health
-
Esophageal surgery (documented in personal account)1990（関連著作『メメント・モリ 私の食道手術体験』刊行）Turned the surgical experience into a published account; influenced later writing and public commentary
-
Lung cancer1999（晩年）Treated at Kinki University Hospital and died in 1999; cause of death was lung cancer
Legacy
Regarded as a leading figure of the 'introverted generation', he influenced later writers with experimental style and critical humor. He contributed to literary scholarship and teaching and received major literary awards including the Tanizaki Prize.
Archives
- Meisei Gotō Portal Site (managed by family)
- Kinki University related materials (affiliation)
Quotes
-
The reason I write novels is because I have read novels.
Source: 'Shōsetsu — How to Read and How to Write' (essay/book) (1983)
Trivia
- He wrote manuscripts with a 4B pencil because it erased easily; he kept a brush to sweep away eraser shavings.
- His legal name was Akimasa (明正).
- As an editor he helped publish the quarterly 'Buntai' and influenced the inclusion of younger writers.