The Fox and Dr. Shimamura

The Fox and Dr. ShimamuraWinner of the 2020 Helen and Kurt Wolff Translation Prize The Fox and Dr. Shimamura toothsomely encompasses East and West, memory and reality, fox possession myths, and psychiatric mythmaking. As an outstanding young Japanese medical student at the end of the nineteenth century, Dr. Shimamura is sent to his dismay to the provinces: he is asked to cure scores of young women afflicted by an epidemic of fox possession. Believing it's all a hoax, he

Winner of the 2020 Helen and Kurt Wolff Translation Prize

The Fox and Dr. Shimamura toothsomely encompasses East and West, memory and reality, fox-possession myths, and psychiatric mythmaking. As an outstanding young Japanese medical student at the end of the nineteenth century, Dr. Shimamura is sent--to his dismay--to the provinces: he is asked to cure scores of young women afflicted by an epidemic of fox possession. Believing it's all a hoax, he considers the assignment an insulting joke, until he sees a fox moving under the skin of a young beauty... Next he travels to Europe and works with such luminaries as Charcot, Breuer and Freud--whose methods, Dr. Shimamura concludes, are incompatible with Japanese politeness. The ironic parallels between Charcot's theories of female hysteria and ancient Japanese fox myths--when it comes to beautiful, writhing young women--are handled with a lightly sardonic touch by Christine Wunnicke, whose flavor-packed, inventive language is a delight.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Published: 04/30/2019
ISBN: 9780811226240
Pages: 160
Weight: 0.35lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.10w x 0.50d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 02/04/2019
Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2019 pg. 34