Celebrated as one of the major figures in modern Japanese literature and nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, Jun’ichirō Tanizaki (1886-1965) was a Japanese author known for his exploration of themes such as female beauty and destructive erotic obsessions. His notable works exploring these themes include Naomi (1924), Some Prefer Nettles (1928), and The Makioka Sisters (1943-48), but I won’t talk about those.
Tanizaki’s writing often reflects the cultural tensions between Western influences and traditional Japanese values, and the essay In Praise of Shadows (1933) most preponderantly tackles these themes.
The essay reflects on Japanese aesthetics, emphasizing the beauty found in shadows and darkness, and argues that traditional Japanese culture thrived in subdued light, contrasting it with the harsh brightness of modernity which he believes diminishes the beauty of objects and spaces. It covers various aspects of Japanese life, including architecture and art, advocating for a deeper appreciation of nuance and imperfection, integral to the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of wabi-sabi. Architecture is one of the most interesting aspects covered, and the second one is theatre. Unfortunately he also talks about women and Chinese culture.
While he reflects on the aesthetics of traditional Japanese houses and the cultural values embedded in their design, Tanizaki contrasts the subtlety and simplicity of Japanese architecture with the more modern, Western influences that were increasingly prevalent during his time and expresses a deep appreciation for the muted, shadowed spaces of traditional Japanese houses, where the interplay of light and darkness creates a serene, contemplative atmosphere. He celebrates the use of natural materials, such as wood and paper, that age gracefully and gain character over time, and he values the way these materials interact with light to create soft, diffuse shadows. Tanizaki believes that the subdued lighting in Japanese interiors allows for a more nuanced experience of beauty, one that is closely tied to the passage of time and the natural world.
Tanizaki’s portion on theatre reveal his deep appreciation for the performing arts, emphasizing their role in Japanese culture. He often explored the relationship between theatricality and reality, reflecting on how performance can enhance the perception of beauty and emotion. Tanizaki appreciates how Nō theater, with its aesthetics based on shadow and diffuse light, is in harmony with his philosophy of appreciating beauty in shadows and darkness. The essay is considered a calm defense of Eastern civilization and its aesthetic traditions, in contrast to the excessive brightness of Western modernity.
“Noh theater is also substantiated by shadows.”
So far so good.
Unfortunately, Tanizaki also discusses women in the context of traditional Japanese aesthetics, emphasizing their beauty as enhanced by shadows and generally approaching them as inanimated objects whose sole purpose is aesthetical. He notes that women lived much of their lives in dimly lit spaces, which contributed to their pale complexions and ethereal presence, without even considering their feelings, let alone their health, and describes how cultural practices such as the use of green-black lipstick, blackening their teeth and the concealment of their skin were designed to highlight their whiteness in the soft light of candles, creating an alluring and otherworldly beauty. This interplay of light and shadow is central to his exploration of Japanese aesthetics and femininity and is placed roght afterward the discussion on food, lacquered objects and clothing.
There are differing views on whether Tanizaki was a nationalist. Some argue his interest in traditional Japanese aesthetics constitutes a form of cultural nationalism and a “return to Japan”. One view is that cultural nationalism is compatible with and even complicit with Western modernization and universalism. Tanizaki internalized and stabilized modernizing Western influences while asserting traditional aesthetics. If you take a look at how he portrays Chinese culture, however, appropriation and ouvert idealization of Eastern culture as a whole identity with Japan at the forefront.
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