Japanese Literature

こんにちは！

This semester I am taking a course that focuses on Post-War Japanese narrative (にほんぶんがく). The course is offered by うえだせんせい, and I find her to be a wonderful せんせい. Each week we look at a text (or texts) that centers around a specific theme for the week. So far, the course is quite interesting, and I'm excited to see what texts we work through next.

On that note, I've decided that because this blog is dedicated to learning more about にほん and the にほんご, it would be an excellent opportunity to use this blog to reflect on the other aspects of Japanese culture I am learning outside the JPN 101 classroom. So henceforth, I will reflect on the different weekly readings from my other class, and hope that someone finds it as interesting as I do!

This past week we read a work entitled The Setting Sun (1948) by Dazai Osamu. The analysis of this text was focused on the shifting idea of class and democracy in post-war Japan. The novel is undoubtedly experimental, and tells its story through a series of flashbacks, letters, and poignant memories. Interestingly enough, it is not, perhaps, striking in its portrayal of war time and post-war life, but rather expresses its views through the deeply rooted internal shift in the role of Japanese aristocracy. The narrative is quite complex, and in many ways, the narrator is quite unreliable. However, it lends to a certain outlook for the reader that allows a comprehensive view of the multi-faceted experience of navigating a world that is in some sense, no longer your own. There is undeniable tension between the life of the aristocrat and the "revolution" that manifests itself in the main character, Kazuko. The novel is quite wonderful, and I look forward to reading Dazai's other popular work, No Longer Human.

Fun fact: Last spring, I started watching an anime called Bungou Stray Dogs (it's really good), and I noticed that all of the characters are named after a famous Japanese author, and have corresponding 'abilities' that are named after their most famous work (for Dazai it was No Longer Human, so I'm really curious about what that work is about). I thought it was a really cool and original idea, and I had a lot of fun watching. However, I was not thoroughly familiar with many Japanese authors, so I could only really appreciate the names and their works within the context of the anime. I was then surprised to see that the book I read this week was written by Dazai Osamu, a character (one of my favorite characters too) in Bungou Stray Dogs! After reading his text and learning more about his life, I was able to understand the subtle nuances of the anime and its characterization of Dazai even more (including the several suicide attempts I did not really grasp in the context of the show). I think it's really fun to slowly pick up pieces of Japanese culture that allow us to better understand subtle nuances and references we might not normally pick up on!