Mari Kotani
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese science fiction
critic, best known as the author of Evangelion
as the Immaculate Virgin (Tokyo: Magazine House, 1997) and of *Joseijou muishiki: techno-gynesis josei SF-ron josetsu. Tokyo: Keiso shobo, 1994. (Techno-Gynesis: The Political Unconscious of Feminist Science Fiction), which won the 15th Nihon SF Taisho Award
.
Kotani is one of the founders of the Sense of Gender Award and The Japanese Association of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy. She is now the chair of the Japan PEN
Women Writers Committee and a member of the Science Fiction Writers of Japan.
book, Alternative Culture, which contained an article describing Kotani's book Evangelion as the Immaculate Virgin describing her name as a pseudonym for her husband Takayuki Tatsumi
a professor of English at Keio University
. When her complaints were ignored, she sued the author of the entry (Hiroo Yamagata), the publisher and Shufu-no-Tomo-sha, the distributor of the book, for what she termed "textual harassment." The lawsuit was broadly supported by Japanese writers. The Japan PEN Club established a Women Writer's Committee, with feminist critic Kazuko Saegusa as chair, and Kotani as sub-chair. During this period, Kotani and Maki Honda's translation of Joanna Russ
' How to Suppress Women's Writing
received by major feminist critics in Japan including Chizuko Ueno, Fukuko Kobayashi, Yuko Matsumoto, and Kazuko Takemura. In 2001 the defendants were ordered to pay Kotani 3,300,000 yen (roughly $
27,500), and to publish an apology on the top page of their respective website.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
critic, best known as the author of Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise
The franchise is an umbrella of Japanese media properties generally owned by the anime studio Gainax. It has grossed over 150 billion yen since 1995. The central works of the franchise feature an apocalyptic mecha action story which revolves around the efforts by the paramilitary organization...
as the Immaculate Virgin (Tokyo: Magazine House, 1997) and of *Joseijou muishiki: techno-gynesis josei SF-ron josetsu. Tokyo: Keiso shobo, 1994. (Techno-Gynesis: The Political Unconscious of Feminist Science Fiction), which won the 15th Nihon SF Taisho Award
Nihon SF Taisho Award
Nihon SF Taishō Award is a Japanese science fiction award. It has been compared to the Nebula Award as it is given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan or SFWJ...
.
Kotani is one of the founders of the Sense of Gender Award and The Japanese Association of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy. She is now the chair of the Japan PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
Women Writers Committee and a member of the Science Fiction Writers of Japan.
"Textual harassment" lawsuit
On 1997, the publisher Media Works published a referenceReference
Reference is derived from Middle English referren, from Middle French rèférer, from Latin referre, "to carry back", formed from the prefix re- and ferre, "to bear"...
book, Alternative Culture, which contained an article describing Kotani's book Evangelion as the Immaculate Virgin describing her name as a pseudonym for her husband Takayuki Tatsumi
Takayuki Tatsumi
Takayuki Tatsumi is a Japanese scholar. He is a Professor at Keio University, where he has taught literary theory and American literature since 1989.- External links :* at Keio University* at Flickr...
a professor of English at Keio University
Keio University
,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...
. When her complaints were ignored, she sued the author of the entry (Hiroo Yamagata), the publisher and Shufu-no-Tomo-sha, the distributor of the book, for what she termed "textual harassment." The lawsuit was broadly supported by Japanese writers. The Japan PEN Club established a Women Writer's Committee, with feminist critic Kazuko Saegusa as chair, and Kotani as sub-chair. During this period, Kotani and Maki Honda's translation of Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...
' How to Suppress Women's Writing
How to Suppress Women's Writing
How to Suppress Women's Writing is a book by Joanna Russ, published in 1983. Written in the style of an irreverent sarcastic guidebook, it explains how women and minorities are prevented from producing written works....
received by major feminist critics in Japan including Chizuko Ueno, Fukuko Kobayashi, Yuko Matsumoto, and Kazuko Takemura. In 2001 the defendants were ordered to pay Kotani 3,300,000 yen (roughly $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
27,500), and to publish an apology on the top page of their respective website.
Partial bibliography
Works by Kotani include:- Joseijou muishiki: techno-gynesis josei SF-ron josetsu. Tokyo: Keiso shobo, 1994. (Techno-Gynesis: The Political Unconscious of Feminist Science Fiction) ISBN 4326152893 9784326152896 which won the 15th Nihon SF Taisho AwardNihon SF Taisho AwardNihon SF Taishō Award is a Japanese science fiction award. It has been compared to the Nebula Award as it is given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan or SFWJ...
- Fantasy no Boken (Adventure of Fantasy)
- Otoko-tachi no Shiranai On'na (The Women Men Don't See), translation of Marleen BarrMarleen BarrMarleen Barr teaches communication and media studies at Fordham University, New York City. She is notable for her significant contributions to science fiction studies, for which she won a Pilgrim Award from the Science Fiction Research Association in 1997...
's Lost in Space: Probing Feminist Science Fiction and Beyond - Translation of Donna HarawayDonna HarawayDonna J. Haraway is currently a Distinguished Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, United States...
A Cyborg Manifesto (won the 2nd Japanese Translation Award for Philosophy) - Translation of Joanna RussJoanna RussJoanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...
How to Suppress Women's WritingHow to Suppress Women's WritingHow to Suppress Women's Writing is a book by Joanna Russ, published in 1983. Written in the style of an irreverent sarcastic guidebook, it explains how women and minorities are prevented from producing written works....
(with Maki Hona) - "Across the Multiverse: How Do Aliens Travel from ‘Divisional’ Space to ‘Network’ Space?" Japanese Journal of American Studies (Japanese Association for American Studies) 13 (2002): 157–170.
- Space, Body, and Aliens in Japanese Women’s Science Fiction (Science Fiction Studies, 2002)
- Hoshi no kagi, maho no kobako : Kotani Mari no Fantaji & SF annai (Tōkyō : Chūo Kōronsha, 2005) ISBN 4120036944 9784120036941
- Tekuno goshikku (Techno-goth) (Tōkyō : Hōmusha : Shūeisha, 2005) ISBN 4834251217 9784834251210