Please begin here with this video:

important contributions to the scholarly disource

Pebbles of Poetry　・　3/11 Literature　・　Disaster Literature

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In my research project, I analyze the specific affordances and limitations of Twitter as a platform for poetry. The analysis follows a twofold approach: First, I look at the poetic themes communicated in the content of Wago’s poetry, conducting a close reading and literary analysis (in Japanese). These themes, including disrupted routines, social isolation, fractured thought processes, and slow, nonlinear path of healing, connect to worldbuilding/world(re-)building amidst disaster. Then, I analyze how the digital medium of Twitter functions to build on, interact with, or embody these themes.

click or use [→] arrow key to scroll through a schematic of my twofold analysis methodology:

thesis

 In Pebbles of Poetry, Wago Ryoichi creates a raw and unfiltered disaster narrative that captures the physical and emotional fracture and rebuilding of post-3/11 life in Japan, shaped both by poetic content and by the forces of medium and language. The Twitter platform’s features—including time-stamps, character limits, and interactivity—allow the poetry to take on a novel dimension that could not have been achieved in traditional modes of publication, making the poetry itself symbolic of the rupture and reconstruction of daily life and human connection after disaster. This elucidates that worldbuilding in disaster literature is not only shaped by what is said, but by how it is communicated, highlighting that medium, language, and form shape how catastrophe is experienced, shared, and remembered.

Wago Ryoichi certainly builds a world within his writing. He recounts everyday moments in the aftermath of disaster: his interactions with his neighbors, helping them and being helped, and his attempts to regain a sense of normalcy in his disturbed, destroyed world. These experiences detail the physical rebuilding of his world, and an emotional reconnection to his community that builds his world back up again. 

But, what has yet to be recognized by scholars is that Wago also actively constructs a world outside of the text. Through Twitter, his poetry cultivates a living community of readers who engage with, respond to, and even shape the ongoing meaning of his work. In this way, Wago himself is rebuilt as his world is. Out of disaster emerges a desire not only to express and to be heard, but to be able to reach others--to communicate, to connect, to co-create together. This intersection between poetic expression and digital interaction makes Wago's work an interesting case for thinking about worldbuilding.