Toward a “global novel:” An ecocritical reading of Tawada Yōko’s The Emissary

Aim of this paper is to re-read Tawada Yōko’s novel Kentōshi through the interpretative framework of the new literary category of the “global novel”. Moving from the description of environmental catastrophe my analysis will show how this novel by Tawada can represent not only the first work of this genre written by the author but, for the intrinsic value of Tawada’s literature itself, it can help shape and redefine the category of the global novel itself.