Week 1 (Lecture) - Proletarian Literature Flashcards
What was the I-novel moving towards?
Simplicity.
What was thought of as the highest form of literature at the time of the I-novel?
Confession as the highest form of literature - words should not get in the way.
When did Akutagawa commit suicide and what was significant about this year?
- Seen as peak of proletarian literature.
What year was Kobayashi Takiji murdered under ‘interrogation’ and what did this year signify?
- Signified death knell for proletarian movement, forcing many writers to go underground or stop publishing for fear of censorship.
Who was Arishima Takeo and what did he publish?
Important left-wing figure, published ‘heimin shinbun’ and involved in early socialist left-wing publications. Member of upper class, had family and landholdings in Hokkaido.
What was one of Arishima’s notable works and what did it state?
Sengen hitotsu (‘one declaration/a manifest’) in 1922. Stated in it that Arishima as a member of the upper class could not articulate on behalf of the proletariat, identified a crisis of representation.
What was the dominant intellectual movement in Japan during the 1920s and what happened to it in the 30s?
Marxism, almost totally repressed in 30s due to crackdown on rising literary and political activity relating to the left-wing. Murder of Kobayashi Takiji signalled death knell of movement.
Why does Marxism not sit very well with the I-novel?
Because the I-novel is considered to be very self-centred, about man vs nature and manners and individual.
Describe the difference in the quest for truth between the I-novel and proletarian literature.
I-novel: truth found in confession and interior life of author.
Proletarian literature: Marxism rejects the above notion, proletariat thinks that only real truth is found from the perspective of the proletarian vanguard. Need to look to workers to find truth, not individual men sitting in his own study writing about his own life.
Who was Kurahara Korehito?
One of the foremost theorists of the proletarian literary movement and foremost theorist of NAPF (Japanese Proletarian Arts Federation).
What did Kurahara write and why was it significant?
Wrote ‘The Path to Proletarian Realism’, published in literary magazine ‘Senki’ in 1928.
Significant because it was the first work in proletarian literary theory to address the issue of creative method in proletarian literature. Juxtaposes proletarian realism with naturalism.
How does Kurahara define naturalism? (four points)
Consisting of two literary types: bourgeois realism and petit bourgeois realism. Defines naturalism as:
- reaction against Romanticism.
- ‘return to realist’
- defeat of tradition
- liberation of self
Why does Kurahara criticise these types of realism? Give an example for bourgeois and petit bourgeois.
Example of bourgeois realism: Tayama Katai’s ‘Futon’. Because limited perspective as its pursuit of something eternal within the individual leads to man’s biological nature; not related to man’s social life. In ‘Futon’, the focus is on the desire and the instinct of the protagonist - too realistic and no relation to what is happening in society.
Example of petit bourgeois realism: Shimazaki Toson’s ‘Hakai’. Because work adapts a social viewpoint (burakumin discrimination) but ultimately relies on an individualistic perspective. Kurakara attributes this to ‘petit bourgeois subjectivity’. Focuses on the perspective of burakumin ‘hero’ in ‘Hakai’.
What is the main message of ‘The Path to Proletarian Realism’?
We must:
- be at the forefront of ideas of the proletarian vanguard
- look at the world with an attitude of strict realism
- portray vast complexities of all human beings
- put our literature to the use of the proletarian class struggle
What is Kobayashi Takiji’s famous work and what does his literature address?
Wrote ‘Kanikosen’ (The Factory Ship). Thought of as martyr for proletarian literary movement and all his works address the problem of the proletariat - interested in bringing plights to light
