Tjugo ansikten - En studie i japansk kriminal- och mysterielitteraturtradition med utgångspunkt i Edogawa Rampos författarskap

The works of crime fiction writer Edogawa Rampo are largely unknown in the West, but have had a considerable impact upon literature and popular culture in his home country of Japan. Rampo’s works are threading on the line between between distinctively Western and distinctively Japanese writing styles and thematic realms, embodying a cultural fusion which acts as a mirror of the societal and cultural changes that occured in the author’s contemporary Taishō era Japan. This thesis is an attempt to explore Rampo’s literary mindset, and more specifically to attempt to picture and describe Rampo’s self-image as an author of crime fiction active during this time period. Aspects such as the importance of public acceptance or disacceptance, the perception of the authors writing as plagiarism or originality, and the insecurity of not adhering to a strictly Japanese nor Western literary tradition are all expressed in various ways in Rampo’s works, making such an analysis possible as well as desirable. The predominant approach taken in this thesis is a thematic and intertextual analysis of three of Rampo’s short stories, accompanied by a historical exploration of the characteristics of Japanese crime fiction