Introduction
The works of Asian authors have greatly influenced the world of literature. Their writing styles vary from post modernist works to modernist western influenced literature. Authors in this region cover a variety of topics that include discussing the role of women, Asian history, and detective stories. Two Asian writers who showcase these topics are authors Sei Shonagon and Haruki Murakami. Haruki Murakami is well known for his most popular short story “The Year of the Spaghetti”. Sei Shonagon has received literary recognition for one her most famous pieces “The Pillow Book”. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the authors Haruki Murakami and Sei Shonagon and their writings by examing the author’s history of region, cultural influences, background information, and literary influences.
History of the region where the author lives/works.
Sei Shonagon grew up in Japan. She lived during the Heian period, working as court to lady Empress Consort Teishi. During this period Japan flourished as a whole. Free of the constraints of war Japan had the ability to reorganize The Heian government worked swiftly to build and strengthen Japanese culture. Heian government developed an independent writing system, breaking away from the Chinese alphabet. Sei Shonagon wrote of personal thoughts in poetic forum, which were influenced by the Heian writing system. The freedom during this time helped influence her artistic and expressive writing style.
Author Haruki Murakami was also born in Japan. However, Murakami was born four years after World War two had ended. This was a time to rebuild after the U.S. had dropped two nuclear warheads on in his home country. Originally, Murakami was from Kyoto, the ancie...
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...on is what was the most critical element to his acclaimed pieces.
Conclusion
Literature allows the ability to escape or analyze reality. Sei Shonagon describes how life truly was in pre-modern, which gives the reader an accurate insight. Haruki Murakami escapes from reality in his work because his literature is mostly comprised of fantasy. Both authors are well known globally allowing them to stand out form their literary peers. Even though the two authors are born almost a thousand years apart they are connected through their Japanese heritage, which is exemplified in their writing. Their experiences have allowed them to connect with the hearts of millions of readers around the world, allowing their literature to stand the tests of time. Shedding light on different aspects of Japanese life these authors will remain in history forever through their literature.
Although wildly different in subject matter and style, Kawabata’s Beauty and Sadness and Murakami’s Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World both show how Japan has been internationalized as well as how it has remained traditional. Kawabata’s novel is traditional and acceptable, much like the haiku poetry he imitates, but has a thread of rebelliousness and modernity running through the web that binds the characters together. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is devastatingly modern, and yet has a similar but opposite undertone of old Japan, or at least a nostalgia for old Japan. In both novels a more international culture has taken root in Japan, and it seems that the characters both embrace and run from the implications of a globalized, hybridized culture.
Since its publication in 1981, Joy Kogawa's Obasan has assumed an important place in Canadian literature and in the broadly-defined, Asian-American literary canon. Reviewers immediately heralded the novel for its poetic force and its moving portrayal of an often-ignored aspect of Canadian and American history. Since then, critics have expanded upon this initial commentary to examine more closely the themes and images in Kogawa's work. Critical attention has focused on the difficulties and ambiguities of what is, in more ways than one, a challenging novel. The complexity of Obasan's plot, the intensity of its imagery, and the quiet bitterness of its protest challenge readers to wrestle with language and meaning in much the same way that Naomi must struggle to understand her past and that of the larger Japanese-Canadian community. In this sense, the attention that Obasan has received from readers and critics parallels the challenges of the text: Kogawa's novel, one might say, demands to be reckoned with, intellectually as well as emotionally.
Literature has played a large role in the way we perceive the world and it can affect the way in which we think about things. Edgar Allan Poe along with Mark Twain are two of the most influential authors that our world has ever seen. Their descriptiveness and diction has had a huge impact on their readers for centuries. Poe’s gothic style of writing was very enthralling and suspenseful; it left you wanting to know what was going to happen next. Whereas, Mark Twain was a very humorous author that intended to amuse all that read. The descriptiveness that was incorporated by these world-renown authors is tremendous.
The Tale of Murasaki, by Liza Dalby, is about Murasaki, a young woman who lived in the Heian period (794-1185) of Japan. She writes a story called The Tale of Genji, and earns so much recognition for it that she is invited to court to attend the empress. Not only was she known for her writing, but she drew attention by learning Chinese. In the story, a Chinese education is essential for a man hoping to be a high-ranked member of society. Because the Japanese considered Chinese culture as superior, waka, a popular form of Japanese poetry, carries less cultural value in the novel. Therefore, both high-class women and men have to learn about wakas and use them daily. A woman who can compose good wakas and is beautiful would have the best chances of going to court, which is the best way to guarantee a comfortable life. Liza Dalby’s The Tale of Murasaki accurately portrays the abilities of each sex, the importance of Chinese learning, and the role of Japanese poetry in the Heian period of Japan.
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.
I will first begin by summarizing the plot of Family by Pa Chin and the plot of Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki and summarizing the characters as I go along. I will then explain how the two authors constructed their characters on modernity and tradition and conclude this paper by explaining the themes of the novels and how I would compare the two novels.
Recently the concerns of women around their equality in society has become a hotly debated topic in the public spot light. Much of the debate concerns women and the ingrained sexism that permeates most cultures. Many women's activists feel that this ingrained sexism has widened the gap between men and women in a political, social, and economic sense. And for the most part they do have strong evidence to support these claims. Women have suffered through millennia of male dominated societies where treatment of women has been, and in some cases still is, inhuman. Women are treated like subhuman creatures that have only exist to be used for procreate and to be subjugated by men for household use. It has only been very recently that women have become recognized as equals in the eyes of men. Equals in the sense that they have the same political and social rights as males. While the situation has improved, women still have to deal with a male oriented world. Often women in the workplace are thought of as inferior and as a liability. This can be due to concerns about maternity leave, or women with poor leadership skills. But also in part it is due because of the patriarchy that controls all aspects and dynamics of the culture, family, politics, and economy. Even developed countries like The United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and France, could be classified as a patriarchies. These countries may not agree with this notion because of expansive, but not complete changes, that have gradually equalized women in society. However, there are developed countries that openly express a patriarchy and have enacted little societal changes to bring equality to women. Japan is one such country, and t...
These are the two questions that I get asked regularly by non-Asians. I always reply “Well I was born and raised in America but my family comes from Hong Kong.” I grew up constantly being told to take pride in being Chinese, however, I was also consistently told by my family to be proud that I even have the opportunity to grow up in America. There was never a definite answer as to what I was, so I learned to accept both. I am Asian American. Many people have questions about what “Asian American” really means and their questions brought on questions of my own. It was not until recently that Asian American influences became more prominent in my life. I was able to find books,
Every character he creates, there is a dark story behind it. His work relates to Andy Warhol’s pop art, but in the sense that Andy used every day items for inspiration, whereas Murakami has done the exact opposite in turning his artwork into everyday items, such as appliances and toys.
Shirane Haruo. et al. Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology 1600-1900. New York: Colombia University Press, 2002. Print.
Japan has historically taken ideas from the United States on its business, merchandise, or other corporate sectors to improve within its political borders. These practices have become massive cultural and economic movements in Japan. Interestingly, Japan takes ideas and molds them into Japanese culture and style; therefore, these products are “Japanized.” To further elaborate on this statement, Japan has succeeded in its businesses and corporations such as the automobile industries around the world (for example, the NUMMI plant production transcended those of American automobile productions due to an enhanced Japanese corporate culture). Albeit many Japanese industries have roots in the United States, they have expanded globally. The music
Asian American Literature Asian Americans seem to be fighting an unwinnable battle when it comes to the content of their writing. Writers are criticized by whites for speaking out against discrimination, and by their fellow Asian Americans for contributing to the stereotypes through their silence. I believe that Asian Americans should include politics in their writing as they so choose, but should not feel obligated to do so, as Frank Chin suggests. For those Asian Americans who make known their discontent with the injustice and discrimination that they feel, in the white culture, this translates to attacking American superiority and initiating insecurities. For Mura, a writer who dared to question why an Asian American was not allowed to audition for an Asian American role, his punishment was “the ostracism and demonization that ensued”.
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.
Japan is located in the continent of Asia. This country is made up of many islands. There are four major islands in Japan which are Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Kyushu. However, Honshu is the largest and most popular as well as home to Tokyo, Kyoto, and other major cities. Japan is often called "The Land of The Rising Sun” because it is located in the Far East and most peoples know that sun rises in the east. The Japanese also refers to their country as "Nippon" or Nihon" which means "source of the sun". Tokyo is the capital of japan and it is one of the largest cities in the world and also modern, very busy as well as extremely crowded. Japan is a well-developed and modernized country. The population in japan is almost 127 million, which 99 of them are Japanese. There are two main religious in Japan which are Shintoism and Buddhism. In Japan all citizens have Freedom to choose and practice their own religious. The Japanese economy is one of the third largest in the world after USA and China. The main export of Japan are cars, electronic devices and computers wh...
Literature has many purposes, and opens doors to unique worlds. Through Literature, we discover ourselves and world time and again.