Mori Ogai’s The Dancing Girl, and Satō Haruo’s FOU are both evocative examples of turn of the century Japanese literature as influenced by western artistic movements. The former, published in 1890, is a product of the period and can be viewed as ascribing to the aesthetics of literary realism; the latter, published in 1926, is more typical of post WWI modernism. Both contemporary movements favor use of character as extended metaphors; the main protagonists can be considered as allegory for Japan’s place in the political climate of the time. Although both pieces address the idea of Japanese national identity, Mori’s Japan had a more optimistic view of its destiny as a world power and embraced foreign ideas more than in Satō’s era of frustrated …show more content…
The story follows Toyotaro Ota, a well-educated Japanese foreign exchange student living in Germany, as he ambivalently moves through life and love. Initially “weary of life and weary of [himself]”, Toyotaro encounters the innocent Elise (Mori, 8). She becomes a symbol for the western world a whole: something to be learned from and even appreciated, but ultimately inferior to eventual Japanese supremacy. Despite their different backgrounds, he and Elise begin a romantic affair. Much like Japan’s relations with the international community, there is initially a great deal of fascination with the novelty of the foreign. However, Elise is ultimately rejected in order to secure Toyotaro’s political ambitions, which leads to her descent into madness and destitution. Toyotaro relinquishes Elise out of cowardice rather than cruelty, but it must be noted that he is nevertheless a rather unsympathetic figure. Their relationship and its turmoil is representative of Meiji era feelings of being destined for greater things, yet uncertain how to achieve their objective of …show more content…
The power dynamics within the romantic relationship of the protagonists are indicative of the authors’ views on Japanese power in foreign affairs. In the earlier Mori work, the Japanese man has the power and eventually rejects his western lover; Elise, although a symbol of the west, represents a comfortably innocent domesticity that Toyotaro is dismissing in favor of a larger destiny. Japan must eschew its creature comforts in order to achieve greatness. Satō’s protagonist and the power dynamic in that work are rather the opposite. Ishino is a strangely childlike character; blissfully unaware of the dereliction that surrounds him. He represents something of the country’s search to reclaim something of its lost innocence. Despite Japan appearing as an equal power in the post WWI world, the country was keenly aware of exactly how tenuous its control was. Successful due to the relative weakness of its neighbors, a shift in power in the region could easily upset the country’s dominance. Thus, the later literary work reflects a more uncertain character. The earlier piece is optimistic as the country at the time was preparing for the string of stunning military victories that would allow it to eventually become the leading power. Regardless of the relative amount of power Japan might be able to wield at
'Even with all the mental anguish and struggle, an elemental instinct bound us to this soil. Here we were born; here we wanted to live. We had tasted of its freedom and learned of its brave hopes for democracy. It was too late, much too late for us to turn back.' (Sone 124). This statement is key to understanding much of the novel, Nisei Daughter, written by Monica Sone. From one perspective, this novel is an autobiographical account of a Japanese American girl and the ways in which she constructed her own self-identity. On the other hand, the novel depicts the distinct differences and tension that formed between the Issei and Nisei generations. Moreover, it can be seen as an attempt to describe the confusion experienced by Japanese Americans torn between two cultures.
Japan led a ruthless assault in the Pacific for fifteen years. This small island was able to spread imperialism and terror to neighboring countries through means of force and brutality. Japan even attempted to combat and overcome European and Western countries such as Russia and the United States. Even with an extreme militaristic government, Japan was unable to achieve the glory it was promised and hoped for. The Pacific War analyzes Japan’s part in the war and what the country could have done to prevent such a tragedy.
experience, because ‘she had the face of America’s enemy and would always have such a face’[5]. However, the Japanese are not merely victims and out of a sense of superiority, they choose to maintain. their detachment from American society. Hatsue’s influential mentor Mrs Shigemura has contempt for American culture and warns Hatsue to stay away from the ‘hakujin’[6].... ... middle of paper ...
Throughout history artists have used art as a means to reflect the on goings of the society surrounding them. Many times, novels serve as primary sources in the future for students to reflect on past history. Students can successfully use novels as a source of understanding past events. Different sentiments and points of views within novels serve as the information one may use to reflect on these events. Natsume Soseki’s novel Kokoro successfully encapsulates much of what has been discussed in class, parallels with the events in Japan at the time the novel takes place, and serves as a social commentary to describe these events in Japan at the time of the Mejeii Restoration and beyond. Therefore, Kokoro successfully serves as a primary source students may use to enable them to understand institutions like conflicting views Whites by the Japanese, the role of women, and the population’s analysis of the Emperor.
Japan's Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985. Print. The. Hall, John. The Whitney.
Known for her work as a historian and rather outspoken political activist, Yamakawa Kikue was also the author of her book titled Women of the Mito Domain (p. xix). At the time she was writing this work, Yamakawa was under the surveillance of the Japanese government as the result of her and her husband’s work for the socialist and feminist movements in Japan (p. xx-xxi). But despite the restrictions she was undoubtedly required to abide by in order to produce this book, her work contains an air of commentary on the past and present political, social, and economic issues that had been plaguing the nation (p. xxi). This work is a piece that comments on the significance of women’s roles in history through the example of Yamakawa’s own family and
...feat of Japan in World War 2). With the changes of the nature of power, Japan by balancing out aggressive economic policies and a quiet military buildup, was able to build herself up to become a prominent player in the international sphere today. In closing, while Japan’s policies today in general have been skewered towards the arguments of the ‘Gentleman’, increasingly Japan has considered more realist concerns of security in the escalation of tensions of the East Asian geopolitical sphere. Chomin’s Discourse has nonetheless served as a prophetic blueprint for more than a century of Japan policy-making.
Suzuki, Tomi. Narrating the Self: Fictions of Japanese Modernity. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1996.
Tsuzuki, Chushichi. The Pursuit of Power in Modern Japan, 1825-1995. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Questia. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.
Furthermore, this tale manifested a true dilemma that our society goes up against daily. Responsibilities are supposed to come before one's own personal gain. If a person becomes enraptured in their own self-seeking task and overlook their duties, that person will eventually suffer for it. Japan regards honor as something you have to strive for. It must be earned. The main character broke the rules of his the country had already established and paid for it in innumerable ways.
The Heian period(794-1185), the so-called golden age of Japanese culture, produced some of the finest works of Japanese literature.1 The most well known work from this period, the Genji Monogatari, is considered to be the “oldest novel still recognized today as a major masterpiece.”2 It can also be said that the Genji Monogatari is proof of the ingenuity of the Japanese in assimilating Chinese culture and politics. As a monogatari, a style of narrative with poems interspersed within it, the characters and settings frequently allude to Chinese poems and stories. In addition to displaying the poetic prowess that the Japanese had attained by this time period, the Genji Monogatari also demonstrates how politics and gender ideals were adopted from the Chinese.
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.
...e novel is a figurative war between pre-WW2 Japan and post-WW2 Japan and how the author portrays Fusako as a woman who was raised in the old ways of Japan must now try to adjust to its new westernized ways and avoid those who oppose the new Japan where in the past women weren’t allow to run businesses, but now she is, as well as how she eagerly seeks another mate due to the fact that she’s over thirty and single while trying to be the provider and nurturing mother to her fatherless son Noboru.
The setting shows a world of opposing ideals, contrasting the weight and solidification of the port and land with the open and free sailor life that Ryuji has been living. This realm of opposites is bolstered by the physical environment in which the characters are placed. Yokohama, a busy Japanese shipping town, is an ideal representation of conflicting spheres. As the city is the ideal connection amidst land and sea, the ocean plays a vital point in connecting the differing ideologies present in the novel. As the plot begins, Fusako and Ryuji’s affair show how Ryuji attempted to overcome the grasp of sealife. The scene of consummation shows the elements of land and sea, Fusako and Ryuji respectively, in perfect harmony with each other as “the universal order [was] at last achieved” (13). The simply beautiful act of sex becomes su...
Keene, Donald. Anthology of Japanese literature, from the earliest era to the mid-nineteenth century. New York: Grove P, 1955.