Literary Theory for a "New Era": Natsume Soseki, Oe Kenzaburo, and Beyond 3/11

2024/03/19

It is embarrassing to admit, but I had never properly read a book until I graduated from high school. I only started reading after entering university. My reading style was a self-taught hodgepodge of indiscriminate reading. I discovered Soseki, Kafu, and Dazai, as well as Balzac, Hemingway, Kaoru Shoji, and Haruki Murakami all around the same time. It was a stoic kind of youthful reading—a young man with neither the leisure nor the education to appreciate literature, and with no mentor or knowledge, facing works and authors alone as if in a martial arts match.

I believe this book was born from my own reading style and experiences during my university days. When I was asked if I would like to write a book by choosing one post-war author, Kenzaburo Oe was the first person who came to mind. This is because Oe was the writer who, at one point, shone brilliantly from within my hodgepodge of reading.

What did writers write at the turning points of their respective eras? Centered on Kenzaburo Oe, a representative post-war writer, my book discusses social transformation and literature by connecting Soseki of the Meiji era with the new literature following 3/11.

I discussed two facets of the author: the peerless young writer who once carried the zeitgeist on his shoulders, and the great writer who, after a certain point, struggled to keep up with the changing times and ultimately found himself in a state of emptiness after 3/11. I chose this because I believed that the author's personal journey reflects the state of Japanese society from the post-war period to the present day.

Since the death of the Nobel Prize-winning author, I wonder if his deification and transformation into a mere subject of research are accelerating. I have a secret hope that the freedom to encounter Oe and the freedom to read him will not be taken away from ordinary readers. As long as the post-war era has not truly ended, Oe is not yet an author who should be canonized by "authority."

I heard from an editor that during his lifetime, Mr. Oe read every piece of writing about himself, no matter how small. He was still alive when I finished the manuscript. I had a dream-like hope that Mr. Oe might read this book. That dream was shattered last March when I heard the news of Kenzaburo Oe's passing.

However, as an anonymous reader, I intend to continue reflecting on the words Oe left behind, which feel like a testament to modern people.

Literary Theory for a "New Era": Natsume Soseki, Oe Kenzaburo, and Beyond 3/11

Kensuke Oku

NHK Books

248 pages, 1,650 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.