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Christopher Bolton

Title and Affiliation

Edward Dorr Griffin Professor of Comparative Literature
Chair of the Comparative Literature Program
Williams College

Contact Information

Mailing Address: 85 Mission Park Drive, Williamstown, MA 01267

Office Tel: 413-597-2513

Office: Hollander Hall 310

Spring 2024 Office Hours: Wed 2:00-3:00 and Fri 10:30-11:30

Email: cbolton at williams.edu

Professional Information

I teach comparative and Japanese literature at Williams College, which I joined in 2003. My research focuses on modern and contemporary Japanese literature and visual culture, particularly prose fiction and animation.

CV

My undergraduate training was in the sciences, and I am fascinated by the intersection and interaction between science and fiction, especially the fuzzy boundaries of what we call literature and the ways that technology prompts us to rethink those boundaries. One of my specific interests is the changing way aesthetic theories have delineated literature and criticism over time. Another interest is the relationship between different media technologies, and the status of adaptations and reproductions in modern and postmodern culture.

Book Projects

My books include Interpreting Anime (2018) and Sublime Voices: Science and Fiction in the Work of Abe Kōbō (2009). I have also co-edited many volumes of criticism focused on anime and Japanese popular culture: Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams: Japanese Science Fiction from Origins to Anime (2007), and the first ten volumes of the University of Minnesota Press's Mechademia series, for work on Japanese anime, manga, and the fan arts (2006-2015).

Courses

At Williams I teach courses on Japanese literature and visual culture as well as classes on comparative literature and literary theory. In 2023–24 I am teaching courses on world literature; twentieth-century critical theory; confession and deception in modern Japanese fiction; and Japanese film.

Multimedia

I am exploring visual and digital media not only as objects of analysis but also as vehicles for my own critical work and teaching. In 2021–22 I curated Repro Japan, an art exhibition on Japanese popular culture at the Williams College Museum of Art. My past efforts have included a virtual art museum inside the multi-user online world of Second Life, and a short animated film introducing concepts in poststructuralist literary theory.

Japanese Mac

A popular section of this site is "Japanese for Your Mac," which has information about working with Japanese on Macintosh computers.

Anime

The anime section of this site contains detailed information about Interpreting Anime, my book on reading Japanese animated film.

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