Steve Rabson (born May 7, 1943) is an American

Japanologist , sometimes known as Japanology in Europe, is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese language, History of Japan, history, ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and professor emeritus of East Asian Studies at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Career

Rabson's research has focused on modern

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...

, especially works depicting war, its aftermath, and the experiences of women and minorities. He is regarded as an expert on

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, subject of several of his books, and has spoken of wartime rape there to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. He is also a '' Japan Focus'' associate. As a U.S. Army draftee he was stationed in Okinawa in 1967-68.

Selected works

In an overview of writings by and about Rabson,

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lists roughly 11 works in 17 publications in 2 languages and 360+ library holdings. * ''The poetry of Kaneko Mitsuharu,'' 1979 * ''Okinawa : Two Postwar Novellas'' (Institute of East Asian Studies,

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, 1989, reprinted 1996) * '' Shimazaki Tōson on war,'' 1991 * ''Yosano Akiko on War : To Give One's Life or Not : A Question of Which War,'' April 1991 * ''Righteous Cause or Tragic Folly: Changing Views of War in Modern Japanese Poetry,'' (Center for Japanese Studies,

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, 1998) * ''Southern exposure: modern Japanese literature from Okinawa'', co-edited with Michael Molasky (

University of Hawaii Press A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, 2000) * ''Edo senryū on waka and women,'' 2003 * ''The Okinawan Diaspora in Japan: Crossing the Borders Within'' (University of Hawaii Press, 2012) * ''

Kpop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

Crash Course: Beyond Gangnam Style'', Dr Steve Rabson with Alexandra Swords * ''Islands of Resistance: Japanese Literature from Okinawa'', co-edited with Davinder Bhowmik (forthcoming from University of Hawaii Press, 2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabson, Steve Living people 1943 births American Japanologists Brown University faculty