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UID:11495-7153@www.uni-passau.de
CLASS: PUBLIC
SUMMARY:Cold War, Hot Monsters:  Godzilla, Mothra, and Japan’s Struggle Against American Hegemony (1954-1961)
DESCRIPTION:Gastvortrag von Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Angles, Professor, Japanese L
 iterature & Translation Studies, Department of World Languages & Literatur
 es\n\nWestern Michigan University (USA):\n\nThis talk examines the complex
  origins of two of the twentieth century’s most iconic monsters, Godzill
 a (ゴジラ) and Mothra (モスラ), both of which now command passionate
  global fandoms. Although often assumed to be creations meant simply to en
 tertain children, these figures, in fact, emerged from and responded to po
 werful social protest movements that shook postwar Japan to its core. This
  presentation traces the traumatic historical events that inspired these m
 onsters and demonstrates how their narratives articulate Japanese resistan
 ce to the expanding reach of American hegemony during the early Cold War.\
 n\nDrawing on Professor Angles’s recent bestselling translations of the 
 1955 and 1961 novels written by four major authors of the era—KAYAMA Shi
 geru (香山滋), NAKAMURA Shin’ichirō (中村真一郎), FUKUNAGA Take
 hiko (福永武彦), and HOTTA Yoshie (堀田善衛)—the talk argues tha
 t these writers used their creations to explore the nuclear trauma, enviro
 nmental devastation, geopolitical pressure, and national insecurity that c
 ulminated in the 1959–60 Anpo Protests against the U.S.–Japan Security
  Treaty. Moreover, the talk argues that the monsters offered a means for p
 rocessing recent catastrophe while also helping Japan imagine alternative 
 paths forward during a moment of profound global ideological tension.
DTSTAMP:20260520T110151Z
DTSTART:20260610T140000Z
DTEND:20260610T160000Z
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