e-mail: eng(at)l.u-tokyo.ac.jp
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Tel: 03-5841-3830

The subject of our department is roughly divided into English Literature, American Literature, and Linguistics. In order to study linguistics, it is necessary to have an accurate understanding of the general nature and structure of the language. Our classes will therefore focus on training students to develop a comprehensive grasp of the details of the English language and their theoretical implications. Anglo-American literature covers literary works (including poems, novels, plays, and criticism) from the English-speaking world in general. While the starting point is generally a close reading and interpretation of texts, the scope may be expanded to include social and cultural trends of the time, tracing the history and context behind literary works.

Teaching staff

Kazuhiko GOTO (Professor) American Literature

Research fields: American literature, especially novels from the American South. Additionally, comparative studies with modern Japanese literature.
Courses taught: His seminars focus on close readings of relatively short novels, lectures on reading through works widely referred to as “masterpieces,” and so on.
(For more information) https://researchmap.jp/kazgoto1961
 

Megumi ARAI (Professor) English Literature

Research fields: English novels, English theatre since the 19th century, the concept of “class” in the U.K. and its representation in literature and culture.
Courses taught: Seminars focus mainly on novels. Students are required to give oral presentations during class on various themes including historical, cultural, and social aspects. Lectures focus on themes such as “suburbia,” “class,” and “adaptation,” and students are required to read several texts, including plays and novels, that are related to the theme.
 

Akira WATANABE (Professor) English Linguistics

Research fields: Syntax and morphology of generative grammar.
Courses taught: Introduction to English Linguistics I takes up the basics of syntactic analysis with comparisons of Japanese and English. Introduction to English Linguistics II deals with the basics of English phonology and morphology. Other courses of his cover further details of morphology and syntax. His graduate seminar explores the frontiers of research on a particular topic, looking for clues that will lead to breakthroughs.
(For more information) https://english.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp staff introduction
 

Masahiko ABE (Professor) English and American Poetry

Research fields: English and American poetry, English novels, fiction and poetry in Japanese. Research topics include theories of lyricism, dyspepsia and the human mind, narrative and politeness, the mechanism of attention, and slow motion.
Courses taught: His seminars focus mainly on Anglo-American poetry in general and on British novels from the 18th century onward. The poets and novelists discussed in the class: William Shakespeare, John Donne, William Wordsworth, John Keats, P.B. Shelley, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens, Jonathan Swift, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, George Eliot, Brontë sisters, Thomas Hardy, Evelyn Waugh, E.M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce...etc. Close reading strongly recommended.
(For more information) Personal website: http://abemasahiko.my.coocan.jp/
Research map: https://researchmap.jp/jumping

Barnaby RALPH (Professor) English Literature

Research fields: He works primarily in the field of early modern studies, focused especially on the literature, rhetoric, and culture of 17th- and 18th- century England.
Courses taught: His classes examine English literature and related topics through the weekly reading of short texts, lectures, and discussion. Students are expected to engage both with the texts and the wider context of the works.
(Click here for information) TBP
 

Koichi SUWABE (Associate Professor) American Literature

Research fields: American fiction. His research focuses on the literature of the modernist era, but he is interested not only in so-called pure literature but also in popular fiction, including noir literature.
Courses taught: His classes mainly focus on American short stories and students should try to read them as comprehensively as possible. The overview of the history of American literature covers the history of such literature from the colonial period to the present day, including the historical background.
(For more information) https://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/eng/teacher/database/1536.html
 

Chizuru NAKAO (Associate Professor) English Linguistics

Research fields: Generative grammar, Syntax (with special focus on movement and ellipsis phenomena in Japanese and English), Language acquisition.
Courses taught: Special lecture on English syntax and language acquisition theory; Seminar where you read major research papers on generative syntax since the 1980s.
 

Misako YORA (Research Associate)

Research fields: English Literature