Natsume Soseki\'s \'Kokoro\' (1914) PDF

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The lecture notes are about Natsume Soseki's 'Kokoro', a mandatory text on the module. This lecture largely concerned the ideas of modernity and acceleration. Why should we care so much about Japan? The Meiji Era is key in discussing the topic of modernity, which has a large degree of ambivalence. T...

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MODERNWORLDLI TERATURE

EN1 2 3

DR. MI CHAELGARDENER

t h DAT E:Mo n d a y , No v e mb e r2 8 2 0 1 6 T OPI C:‘ Ko k o r o ’ , Na t s u meSō s e k i ( 1 9 1 4 )

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Th i sl e c t u r el a r g e l yc o n c e r n e dt h ei d e a so fmode r n i t ya nd a c c e l e r a t i on. Wh ys h o u l dwec a r es omu c ha b o u t J a p a n ? TheMe i j i Er ai sk e yi nd i s c u s s i n gt h et o p i co f mo d e r n i t y , wh i c hh a s al a r g ed e g r e eo f a mb i v a l e n c e . Theno v e lr e fle c t samov et owa r d sgr e a t e ri ndi v i dua t i on,i n ot he rwor d s , amov ef r o mt heda r kt ot h el i ght . Ko k o r or e fl e c t sag r a v ed e s p e r a t i o nf o rJ a p a nt os p e e du p .Se n s e i b e g i n st of e e l i s o l a t e da sa ni n d i v i d u a l . J a p a ni ss o r to fl i k ea‘ t e s tc a s e ’ :i t sp r o g r e s s i o nh a sa no b v i o u s b e f o r ea n da f t e r . Upu n t i l 1 9 6 8 , J a p a n ’ sc o n t a c t wi t hEu r o p ea n dAme r i c awa sc l o s e d b e f o r eGr e a tBr i t a i nwa si n t e r e s t e di nt r a d er e l a t i o n s .Ano p e n i n go f t r a d eg a v eJ a p a nt h eo p p o r t u n i t yt o mo d e r n i z e ,a l s ok n o wn a s ‘ g l o b a l i z a t i o n ’ . Ev e r yc o u n t r yi so nt h es a me ,“ s t a ge d de v e l opme nt / s t a ge d hi s t o r y ”l a r g e l yi n fl u e n c e db yt h eEd i n b u r g hEn l i g h t e n me n t . Be t we e n1 8 6 8a nd1 9 1 2wa st h eMe i j i Er a . ‘ Me i ’ me a n s“ l i g h t ”a n d‘ J i ”me a n st og o v e r n . Th e r e f o r e , t h eg o v e r n me n t wa sl i t e r a l l yc o n t r o l l i n gJ a p a ng o v e r n e db yl i g h t . Th i sd e v e l o p me n twa su n d e r s t o o db yt h eJ a p a n e s ea san a t u r a lp r o c e s s ,a n ds i mpl epa t hof de v e l opme nt . Th ea mb i v a l e n c eo f mo d e r n i t yi t t h a t e n l i g h t e n me n t b r i n g san e wi d e ao f p r o g r e s s . Pe o p l ef e e l a si f t h e yh a v el o s t c o n t r o l . Pa r t i c u l a r l yl e a d i n gi n t ot h el a s t y e a r so f t h eMe i j i e r a , p e o p l e f e l ta si ft h e ywe r ee n t r a p p e da n dt r a u ma t i z e d .Th i ss h o wst h eb r e a ka wa yf r o mt h es a mu r a ib o n d s , pr ov ok i ngac ount e r mo de r nr e s pons e . Me i j i l i t e r a t u r ep r e s e n t sas t r u g g l et h a t t h ed e v e l o p me n t o f J a p a no n l yh a so n ed i r e c t i o ni nwh i c hl i f e h a st oa d j u s t t o . Th i sc a na l s ob ec a l l e d‘ t r a di t i ona l i s m’ . Th i sd e s c r i b e st h ewo r l dt r y i n gt or e c o v e rf r o m wh a twei ma g i n ei nc o n t r a s tt ot h emo d e r nwo r l d( t h et r a d i t i o n a l o n l ya r i s e swi t ht h ei n t r o d u c t i o no ft h e mo d e r n ) . Th ei n s e r t e dme mo r i e so f t h en o v e l a p p e a ra sc o n c e p t i o n so f t h eMe i j i e n v i r o n me n t .T h eg o v e r n me n t h a sb e c o mes u b s e q u e n t l yh a u n t e db ywh a t ma yc o mei nt h ef u t u r e . So mep e o p l ev i e wt h en o v e l a sas c hi z ophr e ni cna r r a t i v e , wh i l s t o t h e r sv i e wi t s i mp l yt oi de nt i f yt h e na t ur eofc a pi t a l i s ma ndt h es o c i e t ya tt h et i me . Ma n ymo d e r nwo r k sd e s c r i b eas h a d o wi nt h eg a pt h el i g h t o f e n l i g h t e n me n t e . g . T . S. El i o t i sap r i me e x a mp l e .  Ar c h a i cp e o p l eh a v en o wmo v e dt ot h en e wT o k y ob yt h ee n do f t h e1 9 2 0 s . At t h i sp o i n t , J a p a ni s n o wt h ek e yt r a n s mi t t e ro f mo d e r n i t ya n dd i s c o n t e n t .  Se ns e ii sof t e nde pi c t e dt oha v e“ s ha d owsc r o s s i nghi sf a c e ” ,whi c hBuddhi s mr e f e r st o a sa“ ne ga t i v es pa c e ” .Th i si sn o tas p a c eo wn e db yt h ei n d i v i d u a l ,b u tas p a c et h a ti s u n d e fi n e d .  Thi sc a us e sust oc ons i de rt hegot h i ca s pe c t soft heno v e l .Se n s e i h a sn o wb e c o med a r k , d e a t h l y , a n di n c r e a s i n g l yu n mo d e r n .  Th i ss c h i z o p h r e n i cd i v i s i o nh a p p e n sb e t we e nt woma i nc ha r a c t e r s :Ka ndSe ns e i .  Ki smo d e r n , s t u d i o u sa n da mb i t i o u s , wh e r e a sSe n s i i se v e r y t h i n gb u t .

MODERNWORLDLI T ERATURE

EN1 2 3

DR. MI CHAELGARDENER

 Kn e v e rb e c o me smo d e r ne n o u g h . Th i sf a i l u r et oc a t c hu pt ot h emo d e r n i z a t i o no f s o c i e t yl e a d s t oh i se x t i n c t i o n . At t h i sp o i n t , t h i sl e a d sSe n s e i t or e c o n s i d e rh i sd e a t h : t h i st h r e a t st ofi l l Se n s e i ’ s me mo r y .  Th e r ei sas p l i tb e t we e nt h ep r i mi t i v ea n dt h ec i v i l i z e d ,e . g.t he‘ s pl i t s e l f ’ ,Dr .J e k y l la ndMr . Hy de .  Th e r ei st h ei n t r o d u c t i o no fas e mi p e r i p h e r y :t h ei d e a so fe n l i g h t e n me n ta r ep u s h e do u t wa r d s , wh e r eKi st h el i g h t a n dSe n s e i i st h ed a r k .  Th eSt e v e n s o nL i g h t h o u s e swe r eb u i l t a sn e c e s s a r yf a c t o r sf o r t r a d ei nBr i t a i na n dt h eUSA.  K’ sc o n s u me db yBu d d h i s m,u s i n gme d i t a t i o nf o rt h ec e n t e ro f h i sb o d ya n dmi n d . Hi se d u c a t i o ni sn o n p r o g r e s s i v e .  Se n s e i ’ se d u c a t i o ni sa s s o c i a t e dwi t ht h eNe wT ok y o.Ne w An g l o p h o n eu n i v e r s i t i e sc r e a t e do v e r s e a sa l l o we dSo s e k it o b r i n gg l o b a l i z a t i o nwi t hh i mb a c kt oJ a p a n . ( Ka n dSe n s e i mo s t l i k e l yd i dt h e i rs t u d i e sa tT o k y oUn i v e r s i t y ) .He r e ,t e a c h e r sa r e c a l l e d‘ Se n s e i ’ . t h  Th emi d 1 9 c e n t u r yb e c a memo r ea s s o c i a t e dwi t hl a ngua ge ofc i v i l i z a t i on.Th i sc o n c e p t i o na r o s et h a tEn g l i s hi sg o o df o r y o u . Thi sr e ma i nst h epr o mi s eofa ni de a l t i me .  ‘ Se n ’me a n s“ l i v e ” ,a n d‘ Se i ’me a n s“ b e f o r e ” .I ta l s oo b v i o u s l y me a n st e a c he r , buti nKok or oi ti st hepe r s ont obec a ught upt o.  Ko k o r op r e s e n t st h i sh a u n t i n gf o rami l i t a n t r e t u r nt ot h et r a d i t i o n( c o n s i d e rCh a p t e r9 7 ) . Se n s e i l o n g sf o r s e l f b e t t e r me n t , a n dr e p r e s e n t su n i t yo f p u r p o s e .  

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I ti ss i g n i fi c a n tt h a tK’ sb o d yi sf o u n di nad i ml a mp l i g h t .Thi sl e a dsSe ns e it ot u r nt oawi de r f e e l i ngofwha t i s“ a l l o v e r ” . I ti sa l s on o tp a r a d o x i c a lt h a tt r a d i t i o n a l i s mu s e smode r nwe a pons( n a v y ,t h ec a nnon) .Th e d e a t ho f No j i Ma r e s u k ea l l o wsJ a p a nt os t a n da g a i n s t t h eWe s t e r nWo r l d( h el i v e st h r o u g hh a n d t o h a n dc o mb a t t or e mo t el o g i s t i c s ) . Th e1 9 0 5v i c t o r yo v e rRu s s i a( i nt h eRu s s o J a p a n e s eWa r )i sat o t a ls h o c kt oJ a p a n ’ s a p p r o p r i a t e dmo d e r n i s m. Th en o v e l u n d e r s t a n d si n s e r t i n gme mo r i e so fap a s t .Mo d e r n i z a t i o ni t s e l fi sat r a uma t i ce v e nt , a n dc a no n l yb et u r n e di n t oame a n i n g f u l n a r r a t i v e . Th i si st h ep u r p o s eo fSe n s e i ’ sT e s t a me n t . Se n s e id e d i c a t e sh i sl i f et ot h ei d e at h a tt h ed i s c o v e r yo ft h eb o d ya l l o wsh i mt os e ei ta sa mu t a b l e , d y i n gt h i n g . Se n s e is a y sh eh a s :“ f or g ot t e na l la boutt h et e r mj uns hi( s ui c i de ) . ”Hec l a i mst h a th i s mo t i v a t i o nt ok i l l h i ms e l f wa s“ r e a l l yf ort hes pi r i tofMe i j i ( t hel i ght ) ” . Th i so p p o r t u n i t yh a sg i v e nSe n s e iar e t u r nt ob o d y t i met h r o u g hj u n s h i .Th en e wp o we rf o rt h e n o n mo d e r n ,wh e nf a c e d ,s h o wsh o wt h eWe s twa n t st oma k eEn l i g h t e n me n tmo r ed e v a s t a t i n g e . g . t h ea t o mi cb o mb i n go f Hi r o s h i ma . On l yt h es h a d o wr e ma i n s .Al lwec a nk n o wn o wi sa b o u tt h es h a d o wst h a ta r el e f tb e h i n d .We t a k eb a c kd e a t hf r o mt h ec l u t c h e so fu n i fi e dt i me -at i met h a twa n t st ou n d e r s t a n dh o wwe e x p e r i e n c et h i n g si nh i s t o r y .

De a t hbe c ome sawe a ponofr e v e nge ....