Researcher Database

（Last updated : 2025-02-18 13:12:36）　

PRESTON Nathaniel H

Department / Course College of Letters Global Studies Program

Title / Position Professor

Other Affiliations
1.	Graduate School of Letters
2.	Kinugasa Research Organization Institute of International Language and Culture Studies

Academic background
1.	1999/05 Degree Acquisition	│ University of Tennessee │ PhD
2.	1994/05 Degree Acquisition	│ Ball State University │ MA
3.	1991/06 Degree Acquisition	│ Earlham College │ BA
4.	～1994/05	British and American Literature │ English │ Ball State University │ Completed
5.	～1991/06	British and American Literature │ English │ Earlham College │ Graduated
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Business career
1.	2017/04/01 ～	Professor, │ College of Letters │ Ritsumeikan University,
2.	2012/04 ～ 2017/03/31	Associate Professor, │ College of Letters │ Ritsumeikan University,
3.	2009/04 ～ 2012/03	Lecturer, │ Faculty of Policy Studies │ Chuo University,
4.	2001/08 ～ 2009/02	Writing Specialist, Law School, │ │ University of Tennessee
5.	1999/08 ～ 2009/02	Lecturer in English, │ │ University of Tennessee

Subject of research
1.	19th and 20th century American literature, particularly writers with interests in Asian countries, cultures, and intellectual traditions
2.	20th century Japanese literature, including modern and contemporary novelists

Research summary
Literature of Inter-Cultural Contact Analyzing and Translating Japanese Literature I am fascinated by the moments when writers encounter cultural boundaries. American writers like Mark Twain and Ellen Glasgow, for instance, have imagined or created their own version of "India" when they developed a personal interest in Hinduism and Buddhism. Likewise, novelists who have immigrated to the United States, such as Bharati Mukherjee, or who are the children of immigrants, such as Jhumpa Lahiri, can see the world through a sort of double cultural perspective. And Japanese writers have similarly constructed an "America" or "West" as they confront recent history and literature. These moments of contact between cultures often tell us much about the narrow or facile judgments that are dictated by the author's milieu, but they can also be occasions when authors display a surprising capacity for generosity, insight, and creative vision. Additionally, my own encounter with Japanese literature has sparked an interest in introducing and translating some Japanese authors who have not yet received proper recognition from English-speaking readers.

Present specialized field
Indian Philosophy/Buddhism Studies, Japanese Literature, Japanese linguistics, English linguistics (Keyword：English and American Literature Japanese Literature Immigrant Literature Indian Religion and Philosophy)

Papers
1.	2022/04/18	We Are All Cain: Thomas Wolfe's Transformation of Biblical Myth in “The Lost Boy” │ The Explicator │ 80 (1-2),pp.37-39
2.	2022/01/18	"For the First Time, I'm Truly Panchaali": Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Reinvention of Draupadi in The Palace of Illusions │ 立命館英米文学 │ (30),pp.44-64
3.	2020/03/31	『英語文学の諸相』「From Magical Essence to Schrodinger's Monkey: Islands in the Literature of the Indian Diaspora」 │ ,pp.174-199
4.	2019/12	Science, Imagination, and an Uncertain Future: A Response to Wai Chee Dimock's "Humans in a Non-Human Future" │ AALA Journal │ 25,pp.33-38
5.	2014/12	Pir Learning: Boundaries and the Unbounded in Jhumpa Lahiri's Fiction │ AALA Journal │ (20),pp.66-74
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Academic conference presentation
1.	2024/09/22	Performing the Floating Self in Bharati Mukherjee's "A Wife's Story"
2.	2023/03/11	“The Entangled Self: Dōgen in Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being”.
3.	2022/06/05	Discussant's Response: Queer Futurities: Utopias, Dystopias and Disruptive Transnationalism: Gender, Environment and Religion II
4.	2019/09/28	Discussant's Response: Psychohistory, Translation, and Humanity's Future
5.	2019/05/24	Instability of Borders in Jhumpa Lahiri’s "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine"
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Teaching achievements

●Other Special Instructions about Teaching Activities

1.	2016/02 ～ 2016/02	Introduction to Japanese Poetry