Call for Book Chapters – Interdisciplinary Edo: Toward an Integrated Approach to Early Modern Japan

Edited by Joshua Schlachet and William C. Hedberg

We are seeking chapter proposals for an edited volume titled Interdisciplinary Edo: Toward an Integrated Approach to Early Modern Japan, to be published with an academic press.

This proposed volume seeks to bring together scholars from across the disciplinary spectrum to explore new approaches to innovative humanistic research on early modern Japan. As vibrant and wide-reaching as the field of Edo-period Japanese studies has become, scholarship has often been divided into disciplinary silos, limiting the potential for collaborative work and productive interaction between areas of specialization. As part of our ongoing Interdisciplinary Edo project, this book aims to make an intervention in the field by thinking across conventional disciplinary boundaries toward a holistic and cohesive approach to Japan’s early modern period. The editors welcome proposals from scholars working in all fields, including literary studies, political and cultural history, art history, religion, philosophy, history of science, economics, environmental history, etc.
Rather than arranging entries around academic discipline, the proposed volume will comprise four to five sections that interrogate the broader categories, constructions, and binaries that have traditionally structured the study of the early modern period. In addition to showcasing their own research, contributors are asked to use their essays to make a critical intervention or argument about the way in which early modern / Edo / Tokugawa Japan has traditionally been defined and studied, and provide a case study in support of that argument. Possible section themes include: periodization, place and geography, political economy and everyday life, popular culture, and genre / translation.

To be considered for inclusion in the volume, please email an expression of interest to jschlachet@email.arizona.edu and william.hedberg@asu.edu by August 1st, 2021. Please include:

1. A 250-word abstract of your proposed chapter, including which section theme(s) you plan to address.
2. A short CV (two-page max.), including an indication of your preferred disciplinary approach.

Selected contributors will be notified in late August. We ask that completed chapters, approximately 6,000–8,000 words including notes, be submitted by May 1st, 2022.