Routledge - Myth and Masculinity in the Japanese Cinema Book

Explore the deep connections between history and storytelling in this academic study from Routledge. Myth and Masculinity in the Japanese Cinema offers a political reading of the tragic hero, examining how this narrative structure shapes male-dominated genres like yakuza films and war-retro cinema. This book investigates how Japanese popular cinema uses the tragic hero to navigate the complexities of post-war identity. It addresses fundamental questions regarding the relationship between history, myth, and memory, providing a framework to understand how individual subjectivities are defined by the past. Readers will gain insight into how the tragic hero acts as a figurative structure used by the Japanese people to interpret the events of World War II. This text is an essential resource for those studying film history, cultural studies, or the evolution of Japanese cinematic genres.