Christopher Lowy
William S. Dietrich II Assistant Professor of Japanese Studies
- POS 341K
Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics
4980 Margaret Morrison St
Posner Hall 341
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Education
Ph.D., Japanese Literature, University of Washington
M.A., Japanese Literature, University of Washington
B.A., English Literature & Japanese, Florida State University
Bio
Christopher Lowy was born and raised in Miami, Florida, completed his graduate work in Seattle, Washington, and spent much time studying and researching in Tokyo, Japan. He teaches courses focusing on contemporary Japanese literature and culture, queer literature, contemporary thought and literary representations of illness and disease. His research focuses on two main topics: the role of written language in Japanese literature and depictions of HIV/AIDS in Japanese literature from the 1980s and 1990s.
The first project aims to bridge the gap between Japanese linguistics and literature by focusing on the role of written language in Japanese fiction. He explores the many ways writers and authors use written Japanese within their literature as a means of aesthetic expression. There Lowy established the vocabulary needed to discuss the role of script in literature and provide the first analytical toolkit for examining Japanese language texts. He is currently serializing a 12-part series on this topic for Hituzi Syobo.
With the second project, Lowy examines representations of HIV/AIDS in Japanese literature and culture from the early 1980s to mid-1990s. In addition to literary fiction, he surveys and examines early cultural responses to the AIDS crisis from Japan. He is also interested in comparing the early critical discourse on HIV/AIDS to early discourse on COVID-19 and, more recently, monkeypox. Lowy has published on this topic in various Japanese journals.
Areas of Interest
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- The history of writing systems, especially East Asian writing systems
- Early cultural responses to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Japan
- Contemporary Japanese literature and culture
- Contemporary Japanese criticism (1980s –)
Courses Taught
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- 82-279 Anime: Visual Interplay between Japan and the World
- 82-275 Queer Representations in Contemporary Literature and Culture from Japan
- 82474 Readings and Discussions in Fiction, Culture, and Criticism from Japan [in Japanese]
- 82-705 Translation Workshop 2: Translating Literary Texts Across History and Technologies [Graduate Course]
Selected Awards & Honors
- CMU Dietrich College Seed Grant Award, 2024
- Northeast Asia Council Short-Term Research in the History of Japanese Sexualities Grant, 2024
- Northeast Asia Council (NEAC) / Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC), 2023
- Modern Language Quarterly (MLQ) Dissertation Fellowship, 2020
Selected Community, University & Professional Service
- Member, Center for the Arts in Society Advisory Board, Carnegie Mellon University, 2023–
- Organizing Committee Member, International Conference on Japanese Language Education (ICJLE)
Selected Publications
Books
Lowy, Christopher, and Shinji Konno. Japanese Literature and the Visual Representation of Language: The Creation of Text-Worlds and the Literary Experience. Hituzi Shobo. Forthcoming.
Book Chapters and Journal Articles
Lowy, Christopher. “Literary Expression at the Ends of Unicode: The Strange Case of EnJoe Toh.” The Journal of Asian Studies, forthcoming.
Lowy, Christopher. “Written Language and Contemporary Japanese Literature – Thinking About Orthography, Thinking About Narrative.” Nande Nihon kenkyū suru no / Why Study Japan?, edited by Sachi Schmidt-Hori and Wendy Matsumura, Bungaku tsūshin, Oct. 2023.
Lowy, Christopher. “Enkyoku no fumiguruma to kawaranai ideology: AIDS, saru-tō, akusho no hattenba o chūshin ni” [Unchanging Ideologies and the Euphemism Treadmill: AIDS, Monkeypox, and the Bad, Bad Sauna]. Yuriika, Aug. 2022.
Lowy, Christopher. “Shingata corona sōdō kara Nihon AIDS bungaku o kangaeru” [Thoughts on Japanese AIDS Literature during the Coronavirus]. Gendai shisō, May 2020.