Profile
Lyle De Souza
Current position and academic employment history
Lyle De Souza is an Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature ↗️ and the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Science ↗️ at Kyoto Notre Dame University ↗️.
Previously, Lyle has held positions as a JSPS KAKENHI researcher (part-time) at Kyoto University then the University of Tokyo, a tutor at Ritsumeikan University, a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow nominated by the British Academy at Kyoto University, an associate lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London, and a visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia.
Current research
Lyle's current research project 'Nikkei Global Literature: Diaspora, Race, Identity & Belonging' looks at literary representations of Nikkei racialisations, identities, and belongings in literary fiction by Nikkei diaspora authors in the United Kingdom and Australia. Lyle has published related papers on the topic of Nikkei diaspora literature in peer-reviewed academic journals which are available on the publications page.
Academic interests
Lyle's research and teaching crosses the humanities (literary criticism, cultural studies) and social sciences (Japan Studies, sociology). He is interested in race, diaspora, identity, belonging, and literary criticism. His work aims to improve understanding of minorities within contemporary socio-political and cultural contexts, such as globalisation and multiculturalism, through analysis of processes of racialisation. His area focus is Japan and East Asia in their contemporary and transnational guises.
Lyle uses his varied disciplinary and cultural backgrounds to research the Nikkei diaspora. Nikkei cultural history is fascinating and is connected with equally fascinating cultural identities and belongings. He explores the imaginings of cultural identity in novels written by Nikkei authors using cutting-edge approaches to understanding contemporary minorities in multicultural societies.
Past research and educational background
Lyle has studied at Kyoto University on two separate occasions. His first stint was from 2000-2002 as a MEXT scholar, during which he focused on sociology. From 2016 to 2019, he returned as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow to conduct research on Nikkei literature. Lyle was awarded his Ph.D. in Japanese at Birkbeck ↗️, University of London ↗️ in 2015 for his study on 'Cultural Identity in Contemporary Canadian Nikkei Cultural Productions'. He completed his MA in Japanese Cultural Studies also at Birkbeck and his BA in Human Geography with Applied Computing at King's College London ↗️, University of London. He has held positions as an Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck, a Visiting Scholar at the University of British Columbia ↗️, and completed a summer course on English Literature at Harvard University ↗️.
Collaboration & supervision
Lyle welcomes collaborative research with other academics with similar interests, or graduate students seeking supervision on topics related to the Nikkei diaspora.