Western Conceptions and Coming to Age in Alan Brown's
Audrey Hepburn's Neck
Alan Brown's story is a comical yet emotional tale of a Japanese man obsessed with American women, after viewing his first Audrey Hepburn film at the age of nine. Jane, a flamboyant American English teacher, seduces Toshi, a twenty-three-year-old manga cartoonist living in Tokyo. As Toshi tries to carve a life for himself, he discovers the complexities associated with sexuality and American women, especially Jane. Throughout the book, Brown beautifully captures how atypical and baffling the Western style can be to someone from outside the culture. Not only does Toshi struggle in his relations with American women throughout the novel, but also with a troubled childhood and a family secret that is slowly exposed to the reader. Brown's witty lines and dry humor make the book entertaining while still supplying an accurate depiction of many national characteristics through the character's actions.
One scene, in which Brown clearly portrayed Toshi's misconception and stereotype of Americans as a whole, took place on page 115. Over a dinner conversation between Toshi and his American friend Paul, Paul lightheartedly made the comment "Don't come complaining to me if you wake up with a knife in your back" in regards to Toshi going on a date with one of Jane's friends. Paul's comment immediately invoked thoughts of terror in Toshi, as he recalled images from the Japanese news and Hollywood movies in which Americans often killed one frequently, in a nonchalant manor, with no remorse. Toshi went on to envision everyday objects that he had seen American actors use to murder one another and it was stated that Toshi believed that "anything can be a murder weapo...
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...graphically and culturally different places with one unifying theme, the Japanese fascination and often misinterpretation of the West.
Personally, I would recommend reusing this novel in future courses about Japanese culture. I believe the book can provide valuable insight into the modern city life of Japan through captivating writing that full of clever plot twists that make the book difficult to put down. Brown's book coincides with many of the topics we have discussed in class about Japan, especially those relating to cultural differences between Americans and the Japanese. I think it is important to incorporate a book like Audrey Hepburn's Neck into lecture because it provides a glimpse into the Japanese psyche while incorporating factual information to keep the reader from being misled. I enjoy the book and hope other will do the same in ensuing classes.
Fallows, James. "After Centuries of Japanese Isoation, a Fateful Meeting of East and West." {Smithsonian} July 1994: 20-33.
Literature of the Americas has many stories and they all have comparisons, but they also have many differences. “Day of the Butterfly” by Alice Monro and “Crossroads: A Sad Vaudeville” by Carlos Solórzano have characters that share some traits and ways, but like all characters they have things that are different. The old woman from “A Sad Vaudeville” is a dynamic protagonist who finds herself meeting the perfect man for her, but has a dilemma when he is in denial because she is not the ideal girl of his dreams; she’s old. Myra from “Day of the Butterfly” is a static antagonist who does not have the same care free attitude as most of the children her own age. She is rather shy and does not fit in or socialize much with people her own age. She does not derive from a very wealthy family. She is responsible for her brother Jimmy which holds her back from having more age appropriate experiences.
William Faulkner and Charlotte Gilman are two well known writers for intriguing novels of the 1800’s. Their two eccentric pieces, "A Rose for Emily" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" are equally alluring. These authors and their works have been well recognized, but also critized. The criticism focuses on the society that is portrayed in these novels. The modern readers of today’s society are resentful to this dramatic society. These two novels are full of tradition, rebellion and the oppression over women’s rights. Both of these novels share the misery of the culture, but there is some distinction between the two. "A Rose for Emily" is a social commentary while "The Yellow Wallpaper" is an informative novel about the writer herself. The authors outlook focus on the gloomy structure in society during that time frame and therefore, create down hearted, reckless characters that offer stimulation for women of all generations.
Much about Kogawa's novel makes it difficult not only to read but also to classify or categorize. First, Obasan blurs the line between nonfiction and fiction. Kogawa draws from actual letters and newspaper accounts, autobiographical details, and historical facts throughout the novel, but she artistically incorporates this material into a clearly fictional work. In addition, Kogawa's narrative operates on multiple levels, from the individual and familial to the communal, national, political, and spiritual. Stylistically, the novel moves easily between the language of documentary reportage and a richly metaphorical language, and between straightforward narrative and stream-ofconsciousness exposition. This astonishing variety in Kogawa's novel can, at times, become bewildering and unsettling to the reader. But as many readers and critics have noted, Kogawa's style and method in Obasan also constitute the novel's unique strength. Kogawa writes in such a way that ambiguity, uncertainty, irony, and paradox do not weaken her story but instead paradoxically become the keys to understanding it.
This book, Japanamerica focuses on how the Japanese popular culture influencing the American culture. The author, Roland Kelts take a neutral prospective in order to create this book, which is done by interviewing many significant individual who took part in establishing the popular culture in both Japan and America. Kelts investigates why the phenomenon of Japanophilia, or the “outsider’s infatuation with Japan’s cultural character” (pg.5), is occurring especially in the United States. Even though Japanophilia phenomenon arose before the twentieth century, it is increasing in number because of the anime, manga, videogames, and other medium of popular culture.
In conclusion, both female protagonists from “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” experience oppression from the dominant males in their lives which eventually causes them to be physically isolated from their contemporary world. Thus, their seclusion leads them to experience confusion and stifling emotions, while teaching them more about themselves and their inner thoughts.
The five aspects which we will examine that create Japan’s culture are: political, economic, military, social, and religious. We will take a look at some of the general facts and information about Japan and its history, more specifically, the events that led the country to its involvement in World War II. After reading this, it is my hope that many will have a better understanding of a foreign country they may not know much about.
There are fundamental differences between Eastern and Western cultures and the meeting of these cultures has had several effects, both in Asia and here in the US. Overseas, you can see the juxtaposition of American pop culture on the older modes of Asian thought and society. Here, New Age religions find new excuses in Asian religions and philosophies and Anime is appears regularly on Saturday morning cartoons. Often, this juxtaposition becomes turbulent as the younger generations are caught between two seemingly opposing cultures. As a result, crime rates rise with the integration of Western ideals and culture into Asian society. This is true here in America too as the first generation of Asian-Americans are born and brought up by Asian parents, with Asian thinking, in American society and culture. This conflict manifests itself in our history as a nation as well as in modern universities and businesses.
In conclusion, Japan and Europe in which were developed independently did have a lot in common. Japan adopted a more Westernized approach to their lifestyle through the Westernized Enlightenment. They started to have high fashion, beautiful buildings, people having more freedom by expressing themselves as individualists. Men and women were becoming intellectuals of their ideas and values. The European Enlightenment helped change Japan in many ways.
Soon after Papa’s arrest, Mama relocated the family to the Japanese immigrant ghetto on Terminal Island. For Mama this was a comfort in the company of other Japanese but for Jeanne it was a frightening experience. It was the first time she had lived around other people of Japanese heritage and this fear was also reinforced by the threat that her father would sell her to the “Chinaman” if she behaved badly. In this ghetto Jeanne and he ten year old brother were teased and harassed by the other children in their classes because they could not speak Japanese and were already in the second grade. Jeanne and Kiyo had to avoid the other children’s jeers. After living there for two mo...
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
Throughout its history, Japan has striven to define its national identity not by its own means, but by those predefined by foreign, and most recently, Western powers. Despite legends of the island archipelago being created by the sun goddess Amaterasu, Japan seems to have consistently maintained a indecisive self-image with respect to its neighbors. In the past, China had represented the pinnacle of culture and technology and had tremendously influenced other surrounding countries in Asia and in the world. Indeed, Japan owes its written language to imported and adapted Chinese characters. Without question, China remained for a long time the most influential force upon Japan. However, island nation maintained a rather precarious self-identity: How could a country like Japan, which was supposedly created by the gods and therefore a divine nation, consider itself the apex of the world, given China’s tremendous influence and power? Could Japan truly consider itself the greatest land in the world if China, or Chugoku in Japanese, literally meant “the central country?” For this reason, Japan never truly accepted a position of “belonging” to Asia. That is, despite a considerable amount of imported culture, Japan was still somehow inherently different from other Asian countries.
Western Washington University (2011). US / Japan culture comparison. Retrieved February 9, 2014, from www.wwu.edu/auap/english/gettinginvolved/CultureComparison.shtml
A comparison between modern Western countries and Japan emphasizes a large discrepancy in beliefs regarding cultural growth in the separate parts of the world (Leonardson, 2004). According to many scholars and much research done on Japan the culture is the perfect example of what cultural homogeneity means as a whole. The cultural homogeneity affects the Japanese youth in how they grow, develop, affect their communities, and live their future lives in the community; this also plays a role in forcing out crime in the country. It also affects the procedures of the police force when interacting with citizens and planning new procedures that require the help and cooperation of Japanese citizens. The cultural