Acquired Alterity: Migration, Identity, and Literary Nationalism.

"Acquired Alterity: Migration, Identity, and Literary Nationalism" by Edward Mack explores the marginalized status of literary productions in prewar Japanese-Brazilian newspapers within the context of the Japanese diaspora in Brazil. Mack challenges the definition of national literature by examining the factors that led to the division between dominant modern Japanese literature and marginalized Japanese-language literature. The book also provides a detailed history of Japanese emigration, the performance of Japanese bookstores and newspapers in São Paulo, and includes translations and analysis of ten short stories that reveal a focus on intraracial alterity rather than interracial differences. While the book makes a robust contribution to the study of the Japanese diaspora, it does not fully address the role of Japanese-Brazilian newspapers in promoting Japanese government propaganda. [Extracted from the article]