By Barbara Mizoguchi
NAP Editor-in-Chief
On April 7, Washin Kai will present its spring lecture at the University of Washington (UW). They will feature Professor Edward Mack, UW Center for Japanese Studies, UW Department of Asian Languages and Literature. He will be discussing his second book, Acquired Alterity: Migration, Identity, and Literary Nationalism. It explores the literary activities of Japanese migrants to Brazil prior to the Second World War. Japanese language literature has been read and written in Brazil for more than a century creating an ever-expanding collection of works. The talk will introduce the first decades of their production by looking at authors, newspapers, bookstores, and readers. It will also raise some questions about what makes up “Japanese literature” and all other identity-based groupings of literary texts.
Portrait of Edward Mack. Photo courtesy: Edward Mack.
Mack, originally from New York and Texas, graduated in history from the University of Texas in Austin. He continued on to graduate school in Modern Japanese Literature at Columbia University in New York then earned his Ph.D. in the same field at Harvard University in Massachusetts. Mack has always been interested in literature and how it helps him understand the world around him.
After visiting friends in Seattle, Washington, Mack thoroughly enjoyed the area and felt fortunate to be asked to teach Japanese literature at UW. He also felt he was following in the path of many great UW professors of Japanese. Later, Mack was appointed Director of the UW Center for Japanese Studies “which supports Japanese Studies throughout the University of Washington.” Mack’s goal is to help the center run effectively, support students in their studies, and help his colleagues in their teaching and research.
Mack’s own scholarship includes his first book called, Manufacturing Modern Japanese Literature. Mack says the title indicates “… my belief that such a group does not exist naturally but instead must be created or ‘manufactured.’”
Before his second book, Mack visited Brazil and was already studying Japanese language books from around the world. While in São Paulo, he discovered the archives at A Sociedade Brasileira de Cultura Japonesa (The Brazilian Society of Japanese Culture and Social Assistance). This research led to his second book which was awarded the Modern Language Association of America’s first-ever Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for East Asian Studies. The book was for outstanding scholarly work in the field of East Asian literary or linguistic studies in 2023. Mack felt it was a great honor to receive the award even though he was not the first to investigate the questions it asks. He is certain scholars will continue exploring these issues.
Mack is currently researching an obscure novel about a man in the 1920s who comes to the U.S. to create an elaborate crime ring. Sounds unusual from his regular work but he said he is having a lot of fun researching and writing about it.
Overall, Mack says, “…the world will open in a whole new way if you can learn another language well enough to read literary texts in their original language. Machine translation and AI [artificial intelligence] promise to reduce language barriers and make many things accessible but that will never compare to reading them in their original language. There is so much beauty, so much detail that is lost in translation.”
Washin Kai is a Washington State non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the study of Japanese literature and culture in the Puget Sound community. Washin Kai promotes awareness and appreciation of Japanese culture by connecting people with its cultural and literary traditions through educational programs and events.
Washin Kai Presents
JAPANESE LITERATURE OF BRAZIL
By University of Washington Professor Edward Mack
Tuesday, April 7, 5:30-7:00 p.m.
University of Washington
Kane Hall, Room 220
4069 Spokane Ln NE Seattle
⚫︎The lecture is free and open to the public.
⚫︎The lecture will also be livestreamed.
⚫︎Registration is required for both in-person and online.
⚫︎Registration link: https://ziply.pk/WK-spring2026.
This lecture is sponsored by UW Department of Asian Languages and Literature and Washin Kai. Nominal support is provided by the Consulate General of Japan in Seattle.
