Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: New Books in Literary Studies
Episode: Adam Kabat, "The River Imp and the Stinky Jewel and Other Tales: Monster Comics from Edo Japan" (Columbia UP, 2023)
Description: Adam Kabatâs The River Imp and the Stinky Jewel and Other Tales: Monster Comics from Edo Japan (Columbia UP, 2023) is an in-depth introduction to the rich and ribald world of kibyĹshi, a short-lived (1778-1807) subgenre of books combining text and illustration on the same page, much like comic books and manga today. This book presents a selection of five kibyĹshi in which monsters play central roles. Each of these short books is reproduced in its entirety, accompanied by Kabatâs translations and commentary. Kabatâs selection of tales communicates the entertainment value and thematic variety of these stories...