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Teruo Inoue

いのうえ てるお

Inoue Teruo

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1940-01-01 （Shukugawa, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan）
Died
2015-08-25 age 75
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese, French
Religion
Christianity

Career

Occupations
French literature scholar, Poet, Translator, University professor
Active Years
1961-2015
Affiliations
Keio University (Professor Emeritus), Chubu University, Faculty of Humanities (Professor), Keio Academy of New York (Head)
Influenced By
Charles Baudelaire, French Symbolism
Influenced
Contemporary generations of poets and scholars

Education

Keio University
Faculty of Letters / Department of French Literature
Country: Japan
University of Nice (France)
Degree: 博士
Country: France
Studied abroad; earned doctorate

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Rose Window of a Journey

1975 Poetry collection

An early poetry collection focusing on travel, memory, and lyrical emotion.

travelmemorylyricism

Dreams and Lyricism

1979 Poetry collection

A mid-career poetry collection treating dreams and introspection, showing strong French literary influences.

dreamsintrospectionWestern culture

Fifteen Cups Dedicated to Autumn

1980 Poetry collection

A collection themed on seasonal feeling and loss, notable for its fusion of lyricism and formal sensitivity.

seasonslosslyricism

Wading Through Winter

2005 Poetry collection

A later poetry collection centered on tranquil and introspective poems.

wintersilenceaging

Elegy of Blue Waters

2015 Poetry collection

Published in the year of his death, the collection is elegiac and often recalls the sea and memory.

elegyseamemory

St. Simeon’s Owl: Travelogue of Syria and Lebanon

1977 Travel writing

A travelogue compiling observations from journeys in the Middle East, showing sensitivity to Islamic and Arab cultures.

travelMiddle Eastreligion and culture

A Poetics of Intoxication in Baudelaire

1977 Scholarly essay

An academic essay on Baudelaire, analyzing Les paradis artificiels and Les fleurs du mal.

BaudelaireSymbolismpoetics

Bibliography

  • Rose Window of a Journey (1975)
  • Dreams and Lyricism (1979)
  • Fifteen Cups Dedicated to Autumn (1980)
  • St. Simeon’s Owl: Travelogue of Syria and Lebanon (1977)
  • A Poetics of Intoxication in Baudelaire (1977)
  • Wading Through Winter (2005)
  • Elegy of Blue Waters (2015)
  • In Search of the Spring of Poetic Thought: Cambridge, New York, Fukue Island (2011)
  • Connecting the Poetic Heart: Collected Essays on Poetry by Teruo Inoue (2016)

Translations by Author

  • The Exiled Baudelaire: Life and Works (translation) (1977)
  • The Arabian Nights (Galan version) (translation) (1990)
  • The Last Banquet's Guest (co-translation) (1992)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyricalcombines scholarly analysis with poetryinfluenced by Symbolism
Recurring Motifs
travelmemoryseainterest in Middle Eastern and Islamic cultures

Health

  • Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
    晩年
    Impaired his health in later years and was a cause of death in 2015.

Legacy

He is regarded as a scholar-poet who balanced French literary studies and poetry. Through translations, travel writing, and scholarly essays, he contributed to the reception of French literature in Japan.

Academic Societies

  • Academic organizations associated with Keio University

Archives

  • National Diet Library (related materials)

Trivia

  • His father, Koji Inoue, wrote children's stories; Teruo published a posthumous collection of his father's tales.
  • In 1961 he co-founded the poetry magazine 'Doramukan' and was active as a poet alongside contemporaries such as Gozo Yoshimasu.
  • He converted to Christianity while studying abroad.
  • He died in 2015 from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.