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Takaaki Morinaka

もりなか たかあき

Morinaka Takaaki

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1960-03-01 （Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Religion
Jōdo-shū (Pure Land Buddhism)
Residence History
Shinjuku, Tokyo (birthplace) → Waseda, Tokyo (Waseda University affiliation)

Career

Occupations
poet, translator, literary scholar, university professor, Buddhist priest
Active Years
1988-
Affiliations
Waseda University, Faculty of Law (School of Law)
Memberships
Japanese Society for French Language and Literature, Society for the History of Social Thought
Influenced By
Jacques Derrida, Paul Celan, French contemporary philosophy

Education

Gakushuin University
Faculty of Letters / Department of French Literature
Degree: 学士
Period: 1980-1984
Year of Graduation: 1984
Country: Japan
Gakushuin University Graduate School, Graduate School of Humanities
Period: 1987-1991
Year of Graduation: 1991
Country: Japan
Completed coursework in doctoral program and withdrew after earning required credits

Awards

Rekitei Newcomer Award
1992
Work: Miseitan
Organization: Rekitei (literary organization)
Result: 受賞
Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize (Poetry Division)
2001
Work: Sister Antigone's Grave Without Calendar
Category: 詩部門
Organization: Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Days of Sand

1991 poetry collection

An early poetry collection exploring self, memory and ruptures in language.

memorylanguagedeath

Miseitan

1992 poetry collection

Poetry collection awarded the Rekitei Newcomer Award; features experimental poetics.

the Otherborderslinguistic experimentation

Anti-Poetic Grammar

1995 criticism / poetics

A collection of essays on poetry and grammar, proposing theoretical bases for experimental poetics.

poeticsphilosophy of languagedeconstruction

Sister Antigone's Grave Without Calendar

2001 poetry collection

A 2001 poetry collection that won the Yamamoto Kenkichi Literary Prize (poetry division).

religionforgivenessotherness

Law

2005 philosophy / law

Philosophical essays on law, ethics, and sovereignty.

philosophy of lawethicssovereignty

Bibliography

  • Anti-Poetic Grammar (Shichosha) 1995
  • Deconstruction (Iwanami Shoten) 1999
  • Being and Ashes - Celan and After Derrida (Jinbun Shoin) 2004
  • Law (Iwanami Shoten) 2005
  • Endless Passion - Derrida, Blanchot, Deleuze (Miraisha) 2012
  • Jacques Derrida and Psychoanalysis - Ear, Secret, Ash and Sovereignty (Iwanami Shoten) 2016
  • Philosophy of Other Power - Forgiveness, Charity, Rebirth (Kawade Shobo Shinsha) 2019
  • Philosophy of Pure Land - Nembutsu, Sentient Beings, Great Compassion (Kawade Shobo Shinsha) 2021
  • Poetry: Days of Sand (Shichosha) 1991
  • Poetry: Miseitan (Shichosha) 1992
  • Poetry: Two, or Songs of the Border (Shichosha) 1997
  • Collected Poems of Takaaki Morinaka (Shichosha, Gendai Shibunko) 1999
  • Poetry: Kei-zoku (Shichosha) 2009

Translations by Author

  • A Thousand Plateaus (Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari) — co-translator
  • The Nazi Myth (Jean-Luc Nancy & Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe) — co-translator
  • Portions of Jacques Derrida's works — contributor/translator

Style & Themes

Literary Style
experimental / avant-garde poetryphilosophical and essayistic styledeconstructive approach
Recurring Motifs
the Otherruptures in languagereligion and forgivenessdeath and memory

Legacy

A scholar, translator and poet who contributed to comparative poetics and contemporary French philosophy in Japan. As a Waseda University professor he has been active in teaching and research; his role as a Jōdo-shū priest also informs his religious and philosophical interests.

Academic Societies

  • Japanese Society for French Language and Literature
  • Society for the History of Social Thought

Trivia

  • Born in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
  • Serves as a professor at Waseda University's School of Law.
  • Active as a poet and translator, has worked on translations of Jacques Derrida.