Akutagawa Ry?nosuke is one of the most renowned figures of prewar Japanese literature; his fiction and nonfiction are emblematic of the intellectual milieu of the Taish? (1912-1926) period, particularly its constant oscillation between cosmopolitanism and rediscovery of national traditions.
Like many of his contemporaries, Akutagawa formed his identity as a writer across cultures. Born near the foreign settlement of Irifunech? in 1892, the son of Niihara Toshiz?, a milk-shop owner, after the death of his mother in 1902 the young Ry?nosuke was adopted by his uncle, Akutagawa Michiaki. The Akutagawa family, though living among foreigners and being in constant contact with the thriving international culture of the area, was rather …
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