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Voices of Modern Japan
Sarah Campbell
Ketchikan High School
Ketchikan, Alaska
Essential Question:In what ways did the events of modern Japan influence writers of that period? What perspectives on modernization are reflected in literature produced during the Meiji and Taisho period?
The student will…
Describe the characteristics of modern Japanese literature and identify those characteristics in selected Meiji and Taisho poetry and short stories.
Identify and compare multiple perspectives on modernization as reflected in Meiji-Taisho literature.
What does Modern Japan Look Like?
Modern Japan ~ Magazine Covers
Modern Japan ~ Posters
Women of Modern Japan
Can you date each photo?
1920’s 1920’s
An Evocative Look at Modern Japan
The Oyster’s Shell ~Kambara Ariake~
An oyster in his shell
Lives in a boundless sea,
Alone, precarious, limited,
How miserable his thoughts . . .
Unseeing and unhelped,
He sleeps behind a sheltering rock .
The Oyster’s Shell
An oyster in his shell
Lives in a boundless sea,
Alone, precarious, limited,
How miserable his thoughts . . .
Unseeing and unhelped,
He sleeps behind a sheltering rock .
Actively Reading the poem line-by-
line… What does the oyster
represent? What about the shell?
What does the poet mean by word “boundless”?
What type of words are used in line 3 of the poem?
Why use an ellipse to close stanza 1?
Why is the oyster not visible?
What is the tone in the last stanza of the poem?
Juxtaposing Modern Japansese Art &
Literature“The Oyster’s Shell is
an allegory that depicts the oyster (individual)
as being unhappily imprisoned in its shell (society), unable to
appreciate the beauty and grandeur of the
surrounding world, and powerless to achieve
its ideals.”
~Donald Keene
What characteristics do the images and
poem share?The Oyster’s ShellAn oyster in his shell
Lives in a boundless sea,
Alone, precarious, limited,
How miserable his thoughts . . .
Unseeing and unhelped,
He sleeps behind a sheltering rock.
Characteristics of Modern Japanese Literature
Marked by a strong and intentional break with tradition and the nation-centered and group orientation values. This break includes a strong reaction against established religious, political, and social views. Feminism, individualism, internationalism, liberalism, and proletarianism emerge during this period.
Belief that the world is created in the act of perceiving it; that is, the world is what we say it is.
There is no such thing as absolute truth. All things are relative.
Connection with history or institutions is conflicted. Their experience is that of alienation, loss, and despair.
Championship of the individual and celebration of inner strength.
Life is unordered & incomplete.
Concerned with the sub-conscious. New literary forms and styles; for example, the I-Novel (1st person point of view) autobiographical confessional type of narration emerges in 1906.