Michaël Ferrier's 'Japon, la barrière des rencontres' Examines Japanese Literary Influence

Michaël Ferrier, a writer and professor living in Tokyo, has published a book titled 'Japon, la barrière des rencontres' with Éditions Cécile Defaut. The work addresses the fundamental space of encounter with Japan, focusing on how Japanese culture has influenced literature—a field less studied than painting in the context of Japonism. Ferrier highlights the work of Philippe Forest, dedicating a chapter to him, and explores the Japanese influence on writers such as Georges Perec, Michel Butor, Victor Hugo, and Paul Claudel. Notably, he examines how Perec subtly absorbed Japanese influences, leading to inventive projects of precise daily notations, and how the game of Go model offers novel possibilities for fiction. The book also presents unpublished texts by Maurice Pinguet, a friend of Roland Barthes who dedicated 'Empire of Signs' to him. Laurent Zimmermann reviewed the book in art press n°364 (February 2010), praising Ferrier's clear and precise portraits and analyses that engage with heterotopic or heterographic thought.