Racial inequality and apocalyptic futures in American literature

在项目的第一年，我的研究时间主要花在阅读现有研究和建立该领域的状态上。利用卡肯尼基金，我购买了投机小说中关于种族的最新和经典文本，以及其他与美国文学中更广泛的种族研究相关的作品，我一直致力于这些作品的研究。由于第一年是研究的探索阶段，我的研究重点已经转向了意想不到的方向，超越了Octavia E.Butler的工作，包括思辨小说和奇幻的经典作品，以及非裔美国作家的其他涉及种族主题的作品。在这一年里，我对该领域的状况有了新的了解，并扩大了我对与该项目相关的重要文学作品的认识。这一建立实地状况和调查现有文献的进程正在进行中。

In the first year of the project, my research time was spent primarily in reading existing research and establishing a state of the field. Using kakenhi funds, I purchased recent and classic texts on race in speculative fiction, as well as other works relevant to the study of race in American literature more generally, and I have been engaged in studying these works. As the first year was an exploratory phase of research, my research focus has moved in unanticipated directions, going beyond the work of Octavia E. Butler to include classic works of speculative fiction and fantasy and other works by African American authors that deal with the topic of race. During this year, I have gained new understanding of the state of the field, and have expanded my awareness of important works of literature relevant to the project. This process of establishing a state of the field and surveying existing literature is ongoing.