Jane Austen in popular culture
Austen went out of favour in Japan during the militarist period in the early Showa era (1931-1945) when a xenophobic, ultra-nationalist mood prevailed, and the government discouraged people from reading foreign books. But during the period of the American occupation (1945–52), almost every Austen book was translated into Japanese except "Mansfield Park" (which was not translated until 1978), and Austen started to be widely taught in Japanese high schools. The translation of "Sense and Sensibility" in 1947, followed by a translation of "Pride and Prejudice" in 1950 were published by the prestigious publishing house Iwanami Shoten, and both books sold very well. The success of the Iwanami versions of "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice" was the moment that Austen became respectable in Japan. In 1963, the critic Yamamoto Kenkichi, in his essay “The Smile of "Pride and Prejudice"” that proved to be influential, criticized Japanese literature for being overtly solemn and praised Austen for her “natural ease”, which led him to conclude: “Collins, Wickham, Mrs. Bennet, Lady Catherine, how she turns her laughter on these minor characters. They are observed with some malice, certainly, but in a pleasant, mischievous, irreverent manner which ultimately accords salvation to even these fools”. Austen has been regarded as a major writer in Japan since the 1950s, and in 2007, the Jane Austen Society of Japan was founded to provide a space for Japanese Janeites. In 2015-2016, "manga" versions of "Pride and Prejudice", "Emma", and "Sense and Sensibility" were published in Japan.
Jane Austen in popular culture
The American author Amy Elizabeth Smart visited several Latin American countries in 2011 to see where Austen stood in that part of the world. Smart was at first concerned that a British author like Austen would not be popular in Guatemala, where most of the people are Maya Indians. But she found Austen fitted in well with the Maya, intensely family-oriented people who criticized her for not taking her own family with her to Guatemala, saying how could she possibly leave her parents behind in America. Smart discovered that Austen's picture of close-knit families in the English countryside was to the Maya comparable to their own existence in the Guatemalan countryside. When Smart asked her Guatemalan students if the story of "Pride and Prejudice" could take place in modern Guatemala, the unanimous answer was yes. Smart found her Guatemalan students related to "Pride and Prejudice" better than her American students as the general expectation in Guatemala is that a woman should be married by her early twenties, just as was the case in Regency England, whereas her American students have trouble understanding why Elizabeth Bennet was risking social disgrace by turning down two marriage proposals. Moreover, Smart's Guatemalan students found the subject of class prejudices in Regency England more compelling than her American students, with many also saying racial prejudices against the Maya by Guatemala's "Criollo" elite made them relate to Elizabeth Bennet's struggle for acceptance from the Hertfordshire elite. Smart reported class discussions in the United States about "Pride and Prejudice" did not automatically lead to the subject of racism while in Guatemala, her students always brought up the racism against the Maya when discussing Miss Bennet's struggle against the gentry and aristocracy of Hertfordshire. By contrast, in Paraguay, where the majority of the population are Guaraní Indians, Smart discovered that hardly anyone knew who Austen was, and much of her class was indifferent to the books. Smart suggested that the War of the Triple Alliance, which wiped out most of the Paraguayan population between 1864-70 with Paraguay going from 1 million to 200, 000 people, had left a grim, death-obsessed mentality in Paraguay where the macabre was celebrated and where Austen simply could not fit into.