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Gender roles shaped in literature
Gender roles shaped in literature
Gender roles shaped in literature
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Kawabata’s Beauty and Sadness and Murakami’s Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
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.
With the graceful starkness of traditional Japanese haiku, Kawabata reveals a twisted set of love affairs between four people that ultimately lead to their downfalls. Haiku depicts a meditational view of the world where nothing is meaningless; in Beauty and Sadness all of the relations represent aspects of new and old Japan, mirroring the rise and fall of Japanese culture in their movements. Among these relationships, perhaps the most traditional is found between Oki and Otoko– although it is tragic and somewhat leacherous, the bond between a young woman (or girl) and an older man is an acceptable affair in traditional Japanese culture. They represent the oldest parts of Japanese custom, and adhere to that measure throughout the novel. Oki’s wish to hear the temple bells with Otoko reflects this long established pattern of old man and young girl, as ...
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...lly, however, he begins to fight back against this loss of identity and struggles to regain himself, realizing that “stealing memories was stealing time... forget the end of the world, I was ready to reclaim my whole self.” (Murakami, 239) As he sits back in his car and waits for his world to end he gives himself the tools to fight this loss of identity, telling himself t“Now I can reclaim all I’d lost. What’s lost never perishes.” (Murakami, 396) Although his identity has crumbled almost past recognition, the Narrator and the Dreamreader hold the key to retrieving it– memories and the unrelenting search for identity. Even though the identity of the Japanese culture has been undermined by globalization and internationalization, Murakami believes that it will be found again when the culture receives the proper stimulus– when they begin to read the dreams of unicorns.
Love, partnership and commitment have been the subjects of a multitude of novels, plays poems, movies and great works of art. Throughout these works, the image of love and commitment in love have taken many different forms. Today, we easily recognize symbols of commitment in love to be items such as hearts, wedding bands, roses, etc. However, in literature, especially, more abstract and creative symbols of commitment to a loved one are often present. Additionally, the symbols of devotion that exist in literature do not always involve romantic love as opposed to many movies, painting and sculptures. For example, in the short story, “Saving Sourdi” by May-Lee Chai, symbols of loyalty to a loved one manifest between two sisters. In opposition to symbols of loyalty existing in a platonic manner as it does in “Saving Sourdi,” Peter Meinke’s “The Cranes,” provides symbols of commitment in an amorous relationship.
Why does it seem like humans always hurt the ones they love the most? This is a question faced as the Seventh man tells his story. In “The Seventh Man”, a young ten year old boy loses his best friend from a giant wave and carries the guilt until he learns how to reconcile from the tragedy. The story provokes curiosity to see if anyone can truly rebound from a life altering tragedy. In “The Seventh Man”, Murakami uses foreshadowing, strong word choice, and symbolism to develop the theme of tragedy and the quest for recovery.
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.
...graphically and culturally different places with one unifying theme, the Japanese fascination and often misinterpretation of the West.
During the Meiji era, two writers create different characters who face moments of significant choices in their lives that could lead to a positive outcome or a negative outcome, which are shown in Higuchi Ichiyō's Takekurabe and Mori Ōgai's Gan. As the different characters grow up, each characters develop in a unique way, which conveys how society functions and what life was like during post-Tokugawa world.
A British novelist born in Japan, Kazuo Ishiguro possesses a variety of different perspectives on many cultures, which he uses to intertwine different values and cultural tendencies into his novels. He utilizes science fiction to present possible futures that may arise in our civilizations in an eerily familiar and easily imaginable tone.(Kazuo, British Council) While incredibly diverse in his writings, he has a tendency to craft tales of semi-dystopian futures that show the failing of humanity without neglecting to display the altruistic behaviors it may also exhibit. Kazuo himself described his fascination revolving around how trials and tribulations can test the very values and ideals of previously comparatively benign societies. His story can be used as a tool to demonstrate his observations regarding human nature and its naturally occurring exploitative practices such as socioeconomic class
Ukiyo is a culture that strives to live a strictly pleasure-seeking routine. The largest flaw in this way of life, as Saikaku points out, is that its superficial nature forces people to live lives as meaningless and fluffy as its name, the “Floating World,” suggests. It is shallow in the physical sense, in that it focuses primarily on “beautiful” external appearances, and in the metaphorical sense, whereby individuals never really make deep-seated connections to anyone because of their addiction to finding these so-called pleasures. One particular character that Saikaku satirizes to embody this superficial nature of Ukiyo is the old, rotting woman found on the verandah in the episode of “A Monk’s Wife in a Worldly Temple.” He cleverly employs situational irony with this character to prove his point, as it is expected for the archetypal old woman to pass moral lessons to the younger generation. By the character’s own, sorrowful admission she claims that she “can’t forget about sex” and is going to “bite right into” (Saikaku 614) the protagonist; completely the opposite of what the audience expects her to say. This satire highlights the extent to which the Ukiyo lifestyle socially conditions individuals; the old woman is so far gone down that path that she no l...
“A review of theatrical history of the world shows that an ancient dramatic art, once its form has been stabilized in a near perfect state, has been capable of surviving the test of time even when its literary elements were no longer contemporary.” (Hsu, 123) The truth of this statement is born out by the present state of kabuki. It does not depict contemporary life in Japan, a country whose whole civilization has undergone a great degree of Westernization, yet it enjoys wide popularity. A principal reason for this lies in the fact that it is now a crystallized form. Kabuki has thus retained, and seems destined to retain, a place in the nation's pride and affection.
...ile the war is still happening. The lack of freedom and human rights can cause people to have a sad life. Their identity, personality, and dignity will be vanish after their freedom and human right are taking away. This is a action which shows America’s inhuman ideas. It is understandable that war prison should be put into jail and take away their rights; but Japanese-American citizen have nothing to do with the war. American chooses to treat Jap-American citizen as a war prisoner, then it is not fair to them because they have rights to stay whatever side they choose and they can choose what ever region they want. Therefore, Otasuka’s novel telling the readers a lesson of how important it is for people to have their rights and freedom with them. People should cherish these two things; if not, they will going to regret it.
Medieval Japan proceeded the Heian period and spanned the years of 1185 to 1600. In contrast to the relatively peaceful times in the Heian period, medieval Japan was marked by changes of the government system into feudal structures and warfare, although the capital and imperial court culture still continued to exist. Political factions, such as the feud between the Taira and Minamoto clans, and the emergence of the warrior class of the medieval period clashed with the elegant imperial court of the Heian period, resulting in the gradual transition of political power to the military and samurai classes. This era of great turmoil and change was reflected in the literature of the time. In prose, new subjects that were never mentioned before emerged, such as physical descriptions of bodies and grotesque, gory war scenes. In Heian literature, the closest physical descriptions were only of women’s long, black hair and fair skin tone; detailed characteristics, especially those of unappealing taste, did not show up. However, in the feudal medieval period, writers depict war scenes in which warriors get beheaded and people commit seppuku, painting images of vivid crimson gore for the reader. Such descriptions show up in works such as Heike monogatari and Kamo mo Chōmei’s Hōjōki. However, the world of poetry at this time showed many distinct and interesting changes and innovations as compared to those of earlier times, which can be analyzed in more detailed aspects. Poetry is how Japan initially gained recognition and respect in the literary world; it was and continued to be the central cornerstone of classical Japanese literature through many centuries, which is why the focus of this paper will be the poetic anthologies of Kokinshū...
There are certain ‘big questions’, questions on purpose and meaning, questions on life and death, that constantly hang over humanity. Some people go on with their day to day lives either blissfully unaware or choosing to hide in naivety. But for others, these questions can become a consuming struggle, something that drives their every moment. Murakami, in After the Quake, writes stories about the second kind of people. These questions that Murakami has his characters struggle with are hard to tackle in such brief, condensed works as short stories, but by giving the elements of the story several layers of meaning and interpretation he is able to unpack the idea more fully and set the reader on the right track to begin unpacking the stories
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.
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...
The novel Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata takes place in post-war Japan, an era of change, where there is a struggle between keeping Japanese traditions and becoming Westernized, or “modernized”. In this way, the setting reflects a major conflict in the novel: past versus present. This struggle is subtly, yet clearly, expressed in the characters throughout the story as they face the cultural shift as well as deaths, and must decide whether or not to move on and accept change or to remain stuck in the past. The character Chikako Kurimoto, ex-mistress of the protagonist’s father, Mr Mitani, clings to the past. She continues to serve Mr Mitani after his death by cleaning the tea house, which does not need cleaning because the protagonist Kikuji, his son, does not practise tea. She also meddles in Kikuji’s life, in a way transferring her possessiveness of his father onto him, and uses tea ceremonies to inject herself into his life. Another way she ties herself to the past is by continuing the annual tea ceremonies held by Mr Mitani after his death. Through keeping the tradition of tea, Chikako attempts to feel connected with Mr Mitani.
Literature has always reflected the perceptions, ideals, and environments of its authors; Japanese waka and prose during Japan’s transition from the “classical” Heian period (794-1185) to a more turbulent medieval period (1100-1500) is a fascinating window into this cultural metamorphosis. Japan was irrevocably changed during this period both politically and ideologically, and Japan’s literature followed suit.