Profile

Masahiko ABE (1966-) is a professor in English at the University of Tokyo. He obtained his BA and MA at the University of Tokyo and PhD at Cambridge University. His primary research area is modern poetry, both British and American, but his criticism also extends to fiction and other genres. His publications include Modernity and the Strategy of Boredom―Oe, Stevens and Avant-garde(2001), Improvisation and Literature(2004), An Introduction to Poetry in English(2007), On Slow Motion(2009), Staring and Literature(2012), Politeness and English Literature: Examining the Kindness of the Narrator (2015), Talking Like Children Helps: Strategy of Infantilism in Japanese Literature (2015), Playing with the Canon: Introduction to the “Scribbling Method” (2017), English Education in Chaos: Confusion and Dishonesty in Japanese Government Policy (2017), Classic English Literature Taught in the Classroom (2021), Words That Make a Difference(2021), and People Dancing to the Music of Paperwork (2023). He won Waseda Literary Award for “Going to the Wilderness” in 1998 and Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities for Staring and Literature in 2013. While contributing reviews and essays to newspapers and literary magazines, he also works on topics such as “politeness,” “disgust”, “voyeurism”, “paperwork”…etc.  He is also a translator of Frank O’Connor’s short stories and Bernard Malamud’s The Magic Barrel. 

The Official Website: http://abemasahiko.my.coocan.jp/

Researchmap: https://researchmap.jp/jumping?lang=en

Email: mabe[at]L.u-tokyo.ac.jp