Firstly, I want to start by expressing how glad I am to have come across War Bride. For my senior thesis, combining medicine and Japanese literature, I am writing about Natsuko's (Breasts and Eggs) experience with poverty and trauma and how it affects her memory in the present. In doing so, I am arguing how her memories/monologues function like somatic memory, in which her past of poverty and trauma is involuntarily reactivated by environmental stimuli (e.g. on the very first page, she goes into a monologue about poverty after seeing the impoverished-looking girl on the train). Kawakami often writes about memory and has it on her mind, as seen in her novels, short stories, interviews with Hitomi Yoshio, etc. Upon reading this piece, I knew that it would nicely support my argument with sequences such as, "When you're hurt, you're hurt forever, she discovered one day when she was poking around somewhere near her core. A single experience of pain sets off an endless process - you relive the pain every moment of your life. Though the mind may rationalize it as a thing of the past, sorrow returns again and again, grabbing a hold of that distant memory. The silhouette springs back to life. That's how memory works, how it lingers." As I argue in my thesis, as Kawakami portrays, pain/traumatic memories are not a thing of the past, but rather a silhouette that lingers in the background, waiting to be reactivated. The pain/trauma always lingers in a subject, and it is brought back to life upon experiencing some sort of stimuli. On a different note, there was another parallel between this and Breasts and Eggs. For example, in this story, the protagonist renounces her speech, similarly to Midoriko. They might be for different reasons, but it is still certainly an interesting similarity - female characters losing their ability to speak. In this case, the protagonist renounces her voice to stop hurting others. As she says, "No matter what shape they took, they could always become entangled with someone's eternity. She couldn't stand the thought that her words might slip into another's existence and remain there..." Just as painful experiences slip into Natsuko's existence and remain there, in this story, the protagonist is afraid of doing that very thing to someone else.
I also really enjoyed The Great Passage. As someone who loves writing, literature, poetry, hip-hop music, etc, I love the creative use of language and playfully using words to create imagery or multiple meanings with a single word or phrase. In this story, there are multiple instances of multiple interpretations - dog having multiple meanings, the kanji for Majime being different from expected (open to multiple interpretations before reading), and the narrator expressing, "Watching Majime go, Araki wondered again if he would be alright - in more senses than one." On a different note, I enjoyed the splashes of comedy throughout, and I enjoyed Araki's passion and admiration for language. When he mentioned that he wanted to become a scholar in Japanese, a peer of his could not comprehend wanting to study a language he already knows. But for those who swoon over writing, poetry, lyricism, etc, it is clear just how deep a language and its creative uses can go. As someone who actively consumes literature, poetry, etc, I can attest that I am no master of the language, and studying those who are is a passion of mine, as I find language to be utterly beautiful when used in creative, remarkable ways. I loved the atmosphere of the story and Araki's quest to finding his successor, and this is definitely a novel that I see myself picking up sometime soon to add to my collection.
As for The Fall of Language in the Age of English, this is one of the most interesting pieces we have read so far, at least in my opinion. Firstly, Mizumura argues that scientific advancement, diversification of cultural goods, and consumerist society have all weakened literature. To start, I can confidently say that I support this argument. Going further, I think that this logic can be applied to music as well. Over time, music is becoming more and more of a product, as seen by a music label's pursuit of commercial success, over the quality of a piece of work. Following this, I appreciated Mizumura's distinction between art and science, especially as someone who has his feet deep in both fields - "Science may explain how humans came into being, but is has no answer to the slippery question of how humans should live." Although science can bring us closer to fundamental truths on the nature of our environment and reality, it can never explain to us how to conduct ourselves within that space. Hence, we have literature, philosophy, etc. We use science and art to make sense of our experiences and life at large, but we use them in completely different ways. And following this introduction, we enter the core of the chapter - "We have entered the age of English." To start, this is a thought that I have had for a long time. What is it like to not speak English natively? I mean, you go to China, Japan, Germany, Brazil, etc, and you have signs, directions, menus, etc, all in English. As one of the many privileges that I possess, I can go anywhere, and I can function in my native tongue. This is something that many English speakers do not take into account or reflect on, especially considering the history of colonization, imperialism, slavery, etc, all of which operated within the English language. For example, the stealing of native land and murder of natives, the overthrowing of Hawaii and forcing its residents to speak English while banning the native language, Britain imperializing the planet, etc. Of course, these things occurred outside of English too, but that is besides the point. Ultimately, one of the points that I am making, is that, "The English language is violence," as expressed by one of my favorite hip-hop artists/poets. I say all of this to express that the world caters to my own language, a language which has a horrid past. And due to America being the world superpower, globalization, and the need for people all around the world to learn English, Mizumura expresses the fear of other languages losing their life over time. As she argues, people will begin to consume media in English rather than their own language, which in turn, means that writers will be more incentivized to write in English, creating a vicious cycle. She further argues that some countries may even experience a fall in their native literature... she further bolsters her claim by expressing, "Even when writing about Japan, the more important the subject, the more meaningful it will be to write in English." I find this point to be very convincing, especially in a field such as academia. Lastly, for one of her arguments that I do not quite buy, she claims that in modern times, Natsume Sōseki would likely not become a writer, as he would try to write in English, fail, and finally, Japanese would not allure him. I feel as if Mizumura sort of romanticizes Natsume Sōseki's time in London, when in reality, he absolutely hated it. In fact, he believed that outside of western influence, Japan needed its own intellectual and emotional independence. So therefore, even if he was not able to attract many readers due to Japanese literature experiencing less allure to young people, I do not feel as if he would be as deeply enamored with English as she claims. He was before his London trip, but that trip changed him, and he realized the importance of Japan and its identity. Still, I really enjoyed this piece, and I completely agree with her claim that young people in Japan are not allured by Japanese literature. I cannot count how many times I have tried talking to Japanese friends about Japanese literature, and when I mention a specific author, they look at me like I am speaking a different language. However, the same can be said for any country. In this age, literature is certainly an art in decline.
I thought that The Emissary was more related to a novel like Scattered all over the Earth rather than the previous two, and although I did not find myself engrossed in it, it was enjoyable enough - I just think that I enjoyed the previous three so much that the bar was quite high. In this piece, Japan has become completely isolated, and studying/speaking other languages is largely illegal, the younger generations no longer learn English, Japan no longer uses western-style items, etc. In this novel, the sequence of events appears to be a reverse of the Meiji area influences from the west. However, interestingly, Yoshiro does not even support this isolation policy. So although it exists, there are citizens who do not agree with it. Following this isolation, Japan lost access to the internet, phones, and even Tokyo becomes impoverished, while interestingly enough, Okinawa and Hokkaido do just fine. It is evident that following this isolation, Tokyo no longer produces the opportunities and other attractions that bring people to it, while on the other hand, Hokkaido and Okinawa "thrive," with things such as their unique fruits. Tokyo is simply a hub, and things get produced elsewhere. So when society becomes isolated and closed off, it makes sense that a place like Tokyo comes crashing down, whereas places that actually manufacture goods and perform agriculture thrive.
Lastly, to be honest, I was pretty tired by the time I got to A "Poor Aunt" Story, and it did not help that the most surreal story came last for me (I found myself re-reading lines to make sense of things). This is a very Murakami-esque story in which the protagonist wants to write a story about a poor aunt, and moments later, a poor aunt becomes attached to his back. I found a few things interesting about this piece, such as the narrator directly addressing the reader - "Chances are, you don't have a poor aunt among your relatives, either." Next, I found it interesting how, "She was apparently a kind of ether that changed shape in accordance with the mental images of each observer." Rather than always being a poor aunt, to others, she would appear as whatever their minds would conjure up - a dead dog, a school teacher, etc. And, each of these representations appeared to repulse the observer, making them uncomfortable. Due to this uncomfortableness, the protagonist loses many of his peers, and people isolate from him. Due to this "flaw," he becomes isolated himself. It is quite interesting how the companion never feared the poor aunt, as in reality, she could not see the aunt herself. As for what the poor aunt could represent, given that this is Murakami, it could be whatever you decide to interpret it as... still, to me, it appears to be a sort of isolation or hidden emotion that others perceive or are reminded of. And just as quick as it comes, the story ends with it departing...
