Roberta Strippoli, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor

Office: Coram 225
Address: 200 Hathorn, Bates College, 3 Andrews Rd.  Lewiston, ME  04240  U.S.A.
Telephone #:  (207) 755-5938 or 786-8293 (for Ms. Georgette Dumais, Academic Administrative Assistant)
E-mail: rstrippo@bates.edu
Fax#:  (207) 786-8331

Roberta Strippoli is a scholar of premodern Japanese literature and society who cultivates a strong interest in modern and contemporary topics in East Asian studies. She holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University, an M.A. from Gakushûin University (Tokyo) and a Laurea (B.A.) from the University of Rome. Before coming to Bates she taught in various capacities at Stanford University and in Italy, at the University of Naples “L’Orientale” and at the University of Milan “Bicocca”. 

Professor Strippoli has worked extensively on medieval Japanese narrative, in particular otogizôshi, stories that circulated between the 15th and 17th centuries as illustrated hand scrolls and printed booklets. These stories were extremely popular in medieval and early modern Japan, but were not included in the modern literary canon because of their supposed childlike qualities. Along with fantastic characters, otogizôshi feature protagonists from all walks of life, an exception in traditional Japanese literature, which often focuses on the life of nobles, warriors, and monks. Professor Strippoli published a book on otogizôshi titled La monaca tuttofare, la donna serpente, il demone beone. Racconti dal medioevo giapponese (The Errand Nun, the Snake Woman, the Drunken Demon: Tales from Medieval Japan – Venezia: Marsilio, 2001).

Professor Strippoli’s current research focuses on the legend of the dancer Lady Giô, a character from the 13th-14th century Japanese narrative The Tale of the Heike. The varied reception of Giô’s story in later narrative and performing arts is emblematic of a wider system of intertextual interaction that traverses the history of Japanese literature and theater. The study of Giô also uncovers important information on women performers and construction of gender in premodern Japan.