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Dr Mats Karlsson

BA, PhD, Stockholm University
Senior Lecturer

A18 - Brennan MacCallum Building
The University of Sydney

Telephone +61 2 9351 4715

Biographical details

Mats Karlsson teaches and carries out research in modern Japanese fiction and comparative literature, as well as Japanese cinema. His other interests range over socio-cultural aspects of contemporary Japanese society.

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Teaching and supervision

Teaching

  • JPNS3674 Japanese Literary Tradition
  • JPNS3675 Japanese Cinema
  • JPNS6908 The Underside of Modern Japan
  • ICLS2634 Literature and Revolution

Supervision

  • Modern and contemporary Japanese fiction and literary theory
  • Japanese Cinema
  • Contemporary topics, especially with a cultural studies’ approach

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Current projects

In the wake of the economic crisis in Japan, the proletarian literature of the early twentieth century is currently experiencing a revival and reappraisal. The younger generation, in particular, is turning to authors like Kobayashi Takiji, whose portrayal of the exploitation of the working classes resonates with their own experiences. In short, they find points in common with what they themselves, the so-called “working poor,” have to endure in Japan today.

Related to this current topic, Dr Karlsson is working on a manuscript for a monograph with the working title The Proletarian Cultural Movement in Japan Revisited. This study takes a broad look at the proletarian movement of the late twenties and early thirties. By focusing on the practicalities in fields like literature, film, and theatre, and by highlighting its role as a counter movement against state-sanctioned culture, the study seeks to explore the movement’s inherent but non-realized possibilities

For articles related to this project, see Karlsson’s “United Front from Below: The Proletarian Cultural Movement’s Last Stand, 1931–34,” The Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 37, No. 1, Winter 2011, and “Kurahara Korehito’s Road to Proletarian Realism,” Nichibunken Japan Review, No. 20, 2008 (retrievable at: http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/graphicversion/dbase/review_e.html).

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Selected publications & creative works

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Books

  • Karlsson, M. (2001). The Kumano Saga of Nakagami Kenji. Stockholm: Stockholms Universitet.

Book Chapters

  • Karlsson, M. (2012). Literary Appropriations of The Modern: The Case of Akutagawa Ryunosuke And August Strindberg. In Roy Starrs (Eds.), Rethinking Japanese Modernism, (pp. 164-187). Leiden, The Netherlands: Global Oriental.
  • Karlsson, M. (2010). Reading Tenba no fu forty years after the 168 movement. In William Tyler, Suzuki Sadami (Eds.), Ishikawa Jun and postwar Japan, (pp. 272-281). Kyoto: International Research Center for Japanese Studies.

Journals

  • Karlsson, M. (2012). An Alternative View of tenko: Hayashi Fusao's Popular Writings for Shinseinen. Japanese Studies, 32(1), 61-76.
  • Karlsson, M. (2012). Review of Politics, Porn and Protest: Japanese Avant-garde Cinema in the 1960s and 1970s. Japanese Studies, 32(3), 484-486.
  • Karlsson, M. (2011). United Front from Below: The Proletarian Cultural Movement's Last Stand, 1931-34. Journal of Japanese Studies, 37(1), 29-59.
  • Karlsson, M. (2011). Visions of Japanese Modernity: Articulations of Inema, Nation, and Spectatorship, 1895-1925. Japanese Studies, 31(3), 444-446.
  • Karlsson, M. (2010). The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity. Japanese Studies, 30(3), 477-479.
  • Karlsson, M. (2009). Review of Alastair Phillips and Julian Stinger's "Japanese Cinema: texts and contexts". Japanese Studies, 29(3), 452-454.
  • Karlsson, M. (2009). Review of Eve Zimmerman's "Out of the alleyway: nakagami Kenji and the poetics of outcaste fiction". Japanese Studies, 29(1), 162-164.
  • Karlsson, M. (2009). Writing madness: Deranged impressions in Akutagawa's "Cogwheels" and Strindberg's - Inferno. Comparative Literature Studies, 46(4), 618-644.
  • Karlsson, M. (2008). Kurahara Korehito's road to proletarian realism. Japan Review, (20), 231-273.
  • Karlsson, M. (2008). Review of "A new history of Japanese cinema: a century of narrative film". Japanese Studies, 28(2), 250-252.
  • Karlsson, M. (2008). Review of "Translating Mount Fuji: Modern Japanese fiction and the ethics of identity". Japanese Studies, 28(1), 130-131.
  • Karlsson, M. (2007). Book review: Keiko I. McDonald's 'Reading a Japanese Film: Cinema in Context'. Japanese Studies, 27(2), 215-216.
  • Karlsson, M. (2005). Boku wa kono ang�? o bukimi ni omoi…Akutagawa Ryūnosuke ‘Haguruma,’ Sutorindoberi, soshite ky�?ki," Nichibunken F�?ramu, 2005. Nichibunken.
  • Karlsson, M. (2003). Internationell Utblick. Bonniers Litteraera Magasin, , 66-67.
  • Karlsson, M. (2003). Nakagami to F�?kun�? Waseda Bungaku, 11, 40-53.

Original Creative Work

  • Karlsson, M. (2010). The Crucified lovers: a study in unbridled passion. The Crucified lovers: a study in unbridled passion, Australia.

Magazine / Newspaper Articles

  • Karlsson, M. (2010). Japansk films kompromisslösa samuraj. Svenska Dagbladet.
  • Karlsson, M. (2006). Book review: Hasegawa Tsuyoshi's 'Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan'. Svenska Dagbladet.
  • Karlsson, M. (2001). Book review: Richard B Frank's 'Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire'. Svenska Dagbladet.

2012

  • Karlsson, M. (2012). An Alternative View of tenko: Hayashi Fusao's Popular Writings for Shinseinen. Japanese Studies, 32(1), 61-76.
  • Karlsson, M. (2012). Literary Appropriations of The Modern: The Case of Akutagawa Ryunosuke And August Strindberg. In Roy Starrs (Eds.), Rethinking Japanese Modernism, (pp. 164-187). Leiden, The Netherlands: Global Oriental.
  • Karlsson, M. (2012). Review of Politics, Porn and Protest: Japanese Avant-garde Cinema in the 1960s and 1970s. Japanese Studies, 32(3), 484-486.

2011

  • Karlsson, M. (2011). United Front from Below: The Proletarian Cultural Movement's Last Stand, 1931-34. Journal of Japanese Studies, 37(1), 29-59.
  • Karlsson, M. (2011). Visions of Japanese Modernity: Articulations of Inema, Nation, and Spectatorship, 1895-1925. Japanese Studies, 31(3), 444-446.

2010

  • Karlsson, M. (2010). Japansk films kompromisslösa samuraj. Svenska Dagbladet.
  • Karlsson, M. (2010). Reading Tenba no fu forty years after the 168 movement. In William Tyler, Suzuki Sadami (Eds.), Ishikawa Jun and postwar Japan, (pp. 272-281). Kyoto: International Research Center for Japanese Studies.
  • Karlsson, M. (2010). The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity. Japanese Studies, 30(3), 477-479.
  • Karlsson, M. (2010). The Crucified lovers: a study in unbridled passion. The Crucified lovers: a study in unbridled passion, Australia.

2009

  • Karlsson, M. (2009). Review of Alastair Phillips and Julian Stinger's "Japanese Cinema: texts and contexts". Japanese Studies, 29(3), 452-454.
  • Karlsson, M. (2009). Review of Eve Zimmerman's "Out of the alleyway: nakagami Kenji and the poetics of outcaste fiction". Japanese Studies, 29(1), 162-164.
  • Karlsson, M. (2009). Writing madness: Deranged impressions in Akutagawa's "Cogwheels" and Strindberg's - Inferno. Comparative Literature Studies, 46(4), 618-644.

2008

  • Karlsson, M. (2008). Kurahara Korehito's road to proletarian realism. Japan Review, (20), 231-273.
  • Karlsson, M. (2008). Review of "A new history of Japanese cinema: a century of narrative film". Japanese Studies, 28(2), 250-252.
  • Karlsson, M. (2008). Review of "Translating Mount Fuji: Modern Japanese fiction and the ethics of identity". Japanese Studies, 28(1), 130-131.

2007

  • Karlsson, M. (2007). Book review: Keiko I. McDonald's 'Reading a Japanese Film: Cinema in Context'. Japanese Studies, 27(2), 215-216.

2006

  • Karlsson, M. (2006). Book review: Hasegawa Tsuyoshi's 'Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan'. Svenska Dagbladet.

2005

  • Karlsson, M. (2005). Boku wa kono ang�? o bukimi ni omoi…Akutagawa Ryūnosuke ‘Haguruma,’ Sutorindoberi, soshite ky�?ki," Nichibunken F�?ramu, 2005. Nichibunken.

2003

  • Karlsson, M. (2003). Internationell Utblick. Bonniers Litteraera Magasin, , 66-67.
  • Karlsson, M. (2003). Nakagami to F�?kun�? Waseda Bungaku, 11, 40-53.

2001

  • Karlsson, M. (2001). Book review: Richard B Frank's 'Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire'. Svenska Dagbladet.
  • Karlsson, M. (2001). The Kumano Saga of Nakagami Kenji. Stockholm: Stockholms Universitet.
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