NARRATIVES CROSSING BORDERS BORDERS CROSSING NARRATIVES Which is the identity of a traveler who is constantly on the move between cultures and languages? What happens with stories when they are transmitted from one place to another, when they are retold, remade, translated and re- translated? What happens with the scholars themselves, when they try to grapple with the kaleidoscopic diversity of human expression in a constantly changing world? These and related questions are explored in the chapters of this collection. Its overall topic, narratives that pass over national, language and ethnical borders includes studies about transcultural novels, poetry, drama, and the narratives of journalism. There is a broad geographic diversity, not only in the collection as a whole, but also in each of the single contributions. This in turn demands a multitude of theoretical and methodological approaches, which cover a spectrum of concepts from such different sources as post-colonial studies, linguistics, religion, aesthetics, art, and media studies, often going beyond the well-known Western frameworks. The works of authors like Miriam Toews, Yoko Tawada, Javier Moreno, Leila Abouela, Marguerite Duras, Kyoko Mori, Francesca Duranti, Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo, Riibi (eds.) al. et Jonsson Herbert Hideo, and François Cheng are studied from a variety of perspectives. Other chapters deal with code-switching NARRATIVES in West African novels, border crossing in the Japanese noh drama, translational anthologies of Italian literature, urban legends on the US-Mexico border, migration in CROSSING BORDERS German children’s books, and war trauma in poetry. Most of the chapters are case studies of specific works THE DYNAMICS OF CULTURAL INTERACTION and authors, and may thus be of interest, not only for specialists, but also for the general reader. Edited by Herbert Jonsson, Lovisa Berg, Chatarina Edfeldt and Bo G. Jansson Narratives Crossing Borders The Dynamics of Cultural Interaction Edited by Herbert Jonsson, Lovisa Berg, Chatarina Edfeldt & Bo G. Jansson Published by Stockholm University Press Stockholm University SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden www.stockholmuniversitypress.se Text © The Author(s) 2021 License CC-BY 4.0 Supporting Agency (funding): Dalarna University (Högskolan Dalarna) First published 2021 Cover Illustration: Life in Shibuya Cover License: Public domain Cover designed by Christina Lenz, Stockholm University Press Stockholm Studies in Culture and Aesthetics (Online) ISSN: 2002-3227 ISBN (PDF): 978-91-7635-140-6 ISBN (EPUB): 978-91-7635-141-3 ISBN (Mobi): 978-91-7635-142-0 ISBN (Paperback): 978-91-7635-143-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/bbj This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses /by/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. This license allows for copying any part of the work for personal and commercial use, providing author attribution is clearly stated. Suggested citation: Jonsson, H., Berg, L., Edfeldt, C. and Jansson, B. G. (eds.). 2021. Narratives Crossing Borders: The Dynamics of Cultural Interaction. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/bbj. License: CC-BY 4.0. To read the free, open access version of this book online, visit https://doi.org/10.16993/bbj or scan this QR code with your mobile device. Stockholm Studies in Culture and Aesthetics Stockholm Studies in Culture and Aesthetics (SiCA) (ISSN 2002- 3227) is a peer-reviewed series of monographs and edited volumes published by Stockholm University Press. SiCA strives to provide a broad forum for research on culture and aesthetics, including the disciplines of Art History, Heritage Studies, Curating Art, History of Ideas, Literary Studies, Musicology, and Performance and Dance Studies. In terms of subjects and methods, the orientation is wide: crit- ical theory, cultural studies and historiography, modernism and modernity, materiality and mediality, performativity and visual culture, children’s literature and children’s theatre, queer and gen- der studies. It is the ambition of SiCA to place equally high demands on the academic quality of the manuscripts it accepts as those applied by refereed international journals and academic publishers of a similar orientation. SiCA accepts manuscripts in English, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian. Editorial Board Frida Beckman, Professor of Literature at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University Jaqueline Berndt, Professor of Japanese Language and Culture at the Department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies, Stockholm University Jørgen Bruhn, Professor of Comparative Literature at the Centre for Intermedial and Multimodal Studies at Linnaeus University in Växjö Anna Cullhed, Professor of Literature at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University Karin Dirke, Associate Professor of History of Ideas at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University Johanna Ethnersson Pontara, Associate Professor of Musicology at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics at Stockholm University Jacob Lund, Associate Professor of Aesthetics and Culture at the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University Catharina Nolin, Associate Professor of Art History at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics at Stockholm University Sonya Petersson (coordination and communication), PhD Art History, Research Officer at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University Meike Wagner (chairperson), Professor of Theatre Studies at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics at Stockholm University Titles in the series 1. Rosenberg, T. 2016. Don’t Be Quiet, Start a Riot! Essays on Feminism and Performance. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/baf. License: CC-BY 4.0 2. Lennon, J. & Nilsson, M. (eds.) 2017. Working-Class Literature(s): Historical and International Perspectives. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi .org/10.16993/bam. License: CC-BY 4.0 3. Tessing Schneider, M. & Tatlow, R. (eds.) 2018. Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito: A Reappraisal. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/ban. License: CC-BY 4.0 4. Petersson, S., Johansson, C., Holdar, M. & Callahan, S. (eds.) 2018. The Power of the In-Between: Intermediality as a Tool for Aesthetic Analysis and Critical Reflection. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993 /baq. License: CC-BY 4.0 5. Hayden, H. 2018. Modernism as Institution: On the Establishment of an Aesthetic and Historiographic Paradigm. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi .org/10.16993/bar. License: CC-BY 4.0 6. Lennon, J. and Nilsson, M. (eds.) 2020. Working-Class Literature(s): Historical and International Perspectives. Volume 2. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/bbf. License: CC-BY 4.0 7. Petersson, S. (ed.) 2021. Digital Human Sciences: New Objects—New Approaches. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/bbk. License: CC-BY 4.0 8. Jonsson, H., Berg, L., Edfeldt, C., and Jansson, B. G. (eds.) 2021. Narratives Crossing Borders: The Dynamics of Cultural Interaction. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/bbj. License: CC-BY 4.0 Peer Review Policies Guidelines for peer review Stockholm University Press ensures that all book publications are peer-reviewed. Each proposal submitted to the Press will be sent to a dedicated Editorial Board of experts in the subject area for evaluation. The full manuscript will be reviewed by chapter or as a whole by two external and independent experts. A complete description of Stockholm University Press’ peer- review policies can be found on the website: http://www.stockholm universitypress.se/site/peer-review-policies/ The Editorial Board of Stockholm Studies in Culture and Aesthetics applied a single-blind review during manuscript as- sessment. The Board expresses its sincere gratitude towards all researchers involved in this project. Recognition for reviewers Stockholm University Press and the Editorial Board would like to extend a special thanks to the reviewers, who contributed to the process of editing this book, for their work and time spent on reviewing the manuscript of this book. Table of Contents Introduction 1 Herbert Jonsson, Lovisa Berg, Chatarina Edfeldt & Bo G. Jansson IN-BETWEENNESS Freedom to Know Me: The Conflict between Identity and Mennonite Culture in Miriam Toews’ A Complicated Kindness 33 Rita Dirks Migrants and Other Others in 2020 by Javier Moreno 51 Carolina Leon Vegas Questioning the Border in Yoko Tawada’s Poetics of Trans-Formation: Akzentfrei (2016) and Ein Balkonplatz für flüchtige Abende (2016) 75 Eriberto Russo Human Beings after Catastrophe: Poetical Portraits by Primo Levi and Tamiki Hara 99 Veronica De Pieri CULTURAL TRANSFER Between Zurich and Romania: A Dada Exchange 123 Amelia Miholca From the Secular to the Sacred: The Influence of Sufism on the Work of Leila Aboulela 145 Billy Gray Inscribing Difference: Code-Switching and the Metonymic Gap in Post-Colonial Literatures 169 Katalin Egri Ku-Mesu “Dangerous” Beauty: Imagining the Other in the Noh Play Sesshōseki 189 Dunja Jelesijevic News Narratives across Borders: The Convergence of Interests and Patterns of Meaning in International Media Coverage of Disaster 207 Jamie Matthews CULTURAL MEDIATION Images of Italy: Cultural Representations