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Takayuki Tatsumi

たつみ たかゆき

Tatsumi Takayuki

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1955-05-15 （Tokyo, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese, English
Religion
Catholicism
Residence History
Tokyo, Japan → United States (study/research)

Career

Occupations
American literature scholar, Science fiction critic, University professor
Active Years
1970-
Affiliations
Keio University, Keio Academy of New York
Memberships
Japan Association of English Literary Studies, Japan Association for American Literature, Japan PEN Club, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan (SFWJ), Modern Language Association, American Studies Association, Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, Science Fiction Research Association, Science Council of Japan
Influenced By
William Gibson, Larry McCaffery, Paul de Man, Edgar Allan Poe

Education

Sophia University
Faculty of Letters / Department of English Literature
Degree: 学士
Period: 1974–1978
Year of Graduation: 1978
Country: Japan
Sophia University Graduate School
Graduate School of Letters / Doctoral program (left after earning credits)
Period: 1980s
Country: Japan
Completed coursework in doctoral program and withdrew (nihil obstat)
Cornell University (Graduate School)
Graduate School / English/American literature (Ph.D. program)
Degree: Ph.D.
Period: 1984–1987
Year of Graduation: 1987
Country: United States
Attended as a Fulbright scholar; completed Ph.D. program

Awards

SF Fanzine Grand Prize — Criticism Category
1982
Work: Essay: "Introductory Study of SF Criticism Methodology"
Category: 評論
Organization: SF Fanzine
Result: winner
Shibano Takumi Prize
1984
Work: Contributions to SF fandom
Organization: (Awarded)
Result: winner
Japan Association of English Literary Studies Newcomer Award
1984
Work: Essay: "Violence around the Sovereignty of the Work — The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym"
Organization: Japan Association of English Literary Studies
Result: winner
US-Japan Friendship Commission Award for American Studies (Literature)
1988
Work: Cyberpunk America
Organization: US-Japan Friendship Commission
Result: winner
BABEL International Translation Prize — Thought/Ideas Category
1991
Work: Co-edited/translated: "Cyborg Feminism"
Organization: BABEL International Translation Prize
Result: winner
SFRA Pioneer Award
1993
Work: Co-authored works (e.g., "Towards the Theoretical Frontiers of Fiction")
Organization: Science Fiction Research Association
Result: winner
Fukuzawa Prize (Keio University)
1996
Work: New Americanism
Organization: Keio University
Result: winner
Japan SF Grand Prize
2001
Work: Editor: "History of the Japanese SF Debates"
Organization: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan (SFWJ)
Result: winner
Seiun Award — Nonfiction Category
2009
Work: Editor: "World SF Has Come!! NipponCon File 2007"
Organization: Seiun Award (SFWJ)
Result: winner
IAFA Distinguished Scholarship Award
2010
Work: Work including "Full Metal Apache"
Organization: International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA)
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Cyberpunk America

1988 Nonfiction / Literary criticism

A study of the author's encounters with cyberpunk writers during study abroad and the cultural/literary significance of the movement. Later expanded editions published.

cyberpunktransnational cultural exchangepopular culture

New Americanism: Narrative Studies in American Literary Thought

1995 Nonfiction / Literary history

A major study applying deconstruction and new historicism to propose new perspectives on the intellectual history of American literature since the colonial era.

deconstructionnew historicismAmerican literary history

History of the Japanese SF Debates (editor)

2001 Edited volume / Criticism

An edited volume compiling and analyzing the history and central debates of Japanese SF; recipient of the Japan SF Grand Prize.

SF debateshistorical studyJapanese science fiction

Full Metal Apache: Transactions between Cyberpunk Japan and Avant-Pop America

2006 English-language monograph / Cultural studies

An English-language monograph published in the U.S. exploring transnational exchanges between Japanese cyberpunk and American avant-pop cultural forms.

transnational culturecyberpunktransnational studies

Bibliography

  • Cyberpunk America (1988; expanded ed. 2021)
  • Rhetoric of Contemporary SF (1992)
  • Schemes of Metafiction (1993)
  • New Americanism (1995; expanded ed. 2005)
  • History of the Japanese SF Debates (ed., 2001)
  • Full Metal Apache (2006, in English)
  • Planet of Modernism (2013)
  • Empire of Paranoia (2018)
  • Edgar Allan Poe: The Literary Adventurer (2012)

Translations by Author

  • Cyborg Feminism (co-ed./trans., 1991)
  • Larry McCaffery, "Avant-Pop" (co-ed./trans., 1995)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
interdisciplinary, theory-oriented styledeconstructive approachescritical and historicizing prose
Recurring Motifs
intersection of cyberpunk and pop culturecolonialism and narrative sovereigntymodernism and intellectual history of U.S. literature

Legacy

Takayuki Tatsumi is a noted scholar of American literature and SF criticism whose wide-ranging work—from cyberpunk studies to intellectual histories of American literary thought and the history of Japanese SF debates—has been influential domestically and internationally. He has played a prominent role connecting academic study and the SF fan community.

Academic Societies

  • Japan Association of English Literary Studies
  • Japan Association for American Literature
  • Japan Edgar Allan Poe Society
  • Japan Melville Society

Trivia

  • His wife is Mari Kotani, a SF and fantasy critic (Visiting Professor, Meiji University).
  • He met a namesake announcer from Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting for the first time in 2004.
  • Active in SF doujinshi circles since his Gakushuin days; contributed to the zine "Uchu-jin" and founded the SF doujinshi "Kagaku Makai".