“Snow Country” KawabataYasunari

•14 June, 1988- 16 April, 1972•Born in Osaka•Loss of close relatives•Tokyo Imperial University, major in English

first Japanese novelist to win the Nobel Prize for Literature -1968

He killed himself by gassing himself. -1972

“The Dancing Girl of Izu” -1927 “Snow Country” -1948 “The Sound of the Mountain-

1954 “Thousand Cranes” -1958 “Japan the Beauty and Myself ”-

1969

YasunariYasunari Kawabata (1899-1972)Kawabata (1899-1972) Kawabata lived over three eras (Meiji, Taisho,

Showa) :meaning Japanese emperor had changed three times in his life period

MEIJI ERAMEIJI ERA (1868-1912)(1868-1912) Meiji-Revolution which occurred in the latter

half of the 19th century- led Japan to be modern country

TAISHO ERATAISHO ERA (1912-1925) (1912-1925) World War I begins in 1914SHOWA ERASHOWA ERA (1925-1989) (1925-1989) A period of suffering- Economic depressed

spread World War II begin in 1939 and end in 1945

National Seclusion (1639-1869)National Seclusion (1639-1869) Over 200 years of long seclusion

marginalized Japan from other countries

Japanese own culture has developed

Kawabata developed a unique stylecombining elements of traditional andmodern literature

Modernism was one of the literary movement in 20th century

Kawabata was involved with European modernism

Kawabata saw: Literature as Style

The writer as Introvert Life as a rupture of expected continues and all human relations = ultimately substantial

movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-5vduERZAA

Shimamura – enjoys the affection with Komako, but never gets serious. Be attracted by Yoko somehow.

Komako – Geisha. Hosts Shimamura, and falls in love with him. Has a fiance, who dies in the story.

Yoko – a girl from Komako’s town. A lover of Komako’s fiance.

The Long Tunnel here ismetaphorically his life. -if you keep going you will eventually get

out of the tunnel, but how is he gonna face the world after the tunnel: the snow country.

can be metaphoricallythings he faces .- The cold air(harsh world)- A beautiful but slender and

undependable girls(Komako and Yoko) like snow

- Moments of momentary beauties - His impassive and cold heart

Here, it is white and laying under the night sky.

It sounds like a lady sleeping in the darkness: Geisha, which is Komako.

Geisha always put “Oshiroi” on their face.

Shimamura wants to enjoy his life in the Snow Country. But there is always a signal stop.

-He has family back home-Komako is Geisha-He starts to like Yoko, too.

Yoko’s face, bonfire in a mountain and snowscape.

The fire of Komako’s passion and the snow of Shimamura’s lethargy.

Yoko falling down from the second floor of the house caught on fire at the end of the story.

Shimamura uses the word, “Toro”, which means fool’s errand throughout the story.

Snow is like that. It melts and disappear. Very hollow.

But there is something beautiful about it. This world is a pile of fool’s errand. When the snow piles it is beautiful, as the world is beautiful with the pile of “fool’s errand”

Shimamura – apathetical, lethargy, leading an idle life, living out of his parents’ inheritance. Has wife and children. Minor writer.

*Identity issue Komako – lost her husband, has a fiance

who is cheating on her and dies, and falls in love with Shimamura when her fiance is still alive. *Identity issue

Love-family –friends –partner

Toil for Shimamura and relief for Komako-Shimamura is living out of his parents’

inheritance. Never had hardship. -Komako needs to sacrifice her body and soul to make a living in her whole life. Never relieved.

Trust -betraying family and fiance

Self-Esteem -Shimamura has nothing to boast.

–Komako has had the less-respected life.

A lot of us suffer from the lack of testimony like Shimamura(too ordinal life)

So many girls try to find their identity in a relationship with guys.

We are selfish, but never know how to love ourselves.

A lot of us do not know or even do not think about why we are living.

 Lippit, Seiji M. Topographies of Japanese modernism. Columbia University Press,2002.

 Rosenthal, Lucy. The world treasury of love stories. Oxford University Press,1995.

Petersen, Gwenn Boardman. The Moon in the water : understanding Tanizaki, Kawabata, and Mishima. University Press of Hawaii,1992.

 Hibbett, Howard. Contemporary Japanese literature : an anthology of fiction, film, and other writing since 1945. Knopf :1977.

Norton Anthology of World Literature, 2nd,