Kawakami Mieko’s Natsu monogatari as a global novel: Form, themes and transnational circulation

This paper explores the possibility of interpreting Kawakami Mieko’s Natsu monogatari as a global novel. Following an introduction that seeks to summarize the major positions of an ongoing debate surrounding the definition of the global novel, I will provide a tentative definition of this literary genre and analyze Kawakami’s novel to argue that it aligns with this classification. Finally, I will draw attention to the process of creation and promotion of the novel outside the Japanese literary market, into the global literary market.