SOURCE: "Ironic Perspective and Self-Dramatization in the Confessional I-Novel of Japan," in Reality and Fiction in Modern Japanese Literature, M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 1980, pp. 13-38.

In the following essay, Lippit examines the types and major characteristics of the Japanese "I-novel. "

The most peculiarly characteristic form of the modern Japanese novel is the I-novel, in which the author appears as the protagonist and describes his private affairs and experiences. Avoiding the use of fictional devices, the author presents his state of mind, ideas and realization almost directly. Not only is the subject matter narrowly confined to the author's personal life and experience, but the perspective is almost entirely limited to that of the author-protagonist, and the novel typically lacks such structural and fictional mediation as plot, story-development, dramatic tension and characterization. The author's inward-turning eye observes his inner self in minute detail, leading to a profound insight, a distilled...