{"id":1369,"date":"2024-11-25T15:28:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T15:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/?p=1369"},"modified":"2024-11-25T15:28:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T15:28:06","slug":"kappanese-or-japanese-ryunsosuke-akutagawa-and-the-influence-of-utopian-literature-in-early-20th-century-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/2024\/11\/kappanese-or-japanese-ryunsosuke-akutagawa-and-the-influence-of-utopian-literature-in-early-20th-century-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Kappanese or Japanese? Ry\u016bnsosuke Akutagawa and the influence of Utopian Literature in early 20th century Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Meiji period has often been characterised as the \u201cutopian era in modern Japanese history\u201d, marked by widespread enthusiasm for western novels that could construct new societal possibilities1<\/a><\/sup>. Depicting utopia in fiction requires an ambiguous interplay between the two poles of reality and fiction, allowing space for reflection on Japanese society2<\/a><\/sup>.Mochi emphasises how examining Japanese utopian literature within its social and historical context reveals the genre\u2019s inherent ambiguity, as writers grappled with redefining the meaning of modern Japan. Among these novels, Akutagawa Ry\u016bnosuke\u2019s Kappa <\/em>(1927) stands out for its distinctive satirical critique of Western influence3<\/a><\/sup>.\u00a0As the optimism of the Meiji utopia gave way to the economic uncertainties of the 1920s, Kappa<\/em> reflects how Japanese authors moulded their writings to engage with the anxieties and aspirations of futurology in Japan.<\/p>\n

The novel is narrated by a schizophrenic man confined to a mental hospital, who claims to have travelled to the world of the Kappas – mythical figures in Japanese folklore4<\/a><\/sup>.\u00a0Scholars continue to debate whether his novel serves as a satirical attack on Taish\u014d Japan, or is more a reflection of Akutagawa\u2019s personal challenges, particularly in light of his suicide in the same year.<\/p>\n

Tsuruta delves into Akutagawa\u2019s challenging upbringing, such as the trauma of his mother\u2019s mental illness who died when he was ten, as well as the dominance and cruelty of his aunt, Fuki, which encouraged him to believe that he had inherited the insanity of his mother5<\/a><\/sup>.In the depiction of a Kappa birth in the novel, an unborn child is asked by their father whether they wish to be born, to which the child replied, \u201cI do not wish to be born. In the first place it makes me shudder to think of all the things that I shall inherit from my father – the insanity alone is bad enough. And an additional factor is that I maintain that a Kappa’s existence is evil.\u201d6<\/a><\/sup>.Whilst this reflects Akutagawa\u2019s fear of losing control over his mind as his illness progressed, it also resonates with the growing uncertainties of the 1920s. The aftermath of WW1, the Great Kant\u014d earthquake of 1923, and the rise of imperialist fascism, reconfigured daily life and consciousness, sustaining his ultimate fear of the growing irrationality of the modern world.<\/p>\n

Setiowati offers an alternative perspective, interpreting Kappa <\/em>as an allegory to criticise the shortcomings of humans driven by Japan\u2019s growing capitalist economy7<\/a><\/sup>. \u00a0Frequent parallels are drawn between humans and the scaly, grotesque appearance of the Kappas, emphasising their role as symbols of human weakness, greed and the immorality fostered by capitalist ideology8<\/a><\/sup>. \u00a0This critique is particularly poignant in the context of labour organisation and unemployment, pressing social issues as a result of the transition to a westernised industrial economy4<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Through its narrative, the novel probes readers to reflect on the capitalist ideology that was reshaping the values of modern Japan, particularly the mindset of the workers as they moved from feudal labour to wage labour.<\/p>\n

To summarise, there is an undeniable attempt in Akutagawa\u2019s utopian writing to encourage society to confront the internalisation of exploitative capitalist ideology, and explore alternative visions of the nation\u2019s future. Despite the limited impact of Kappa, <\/em>its political commentary sheds light on the ambiguous nature of utopian literature and its distinctive function in shaping Japan\u2019s social and political consciousness.<\/p>\n

  1. Mochi, Yoriko. \u201cJapanese Utopian Literature from the 1870s to the Present and the Influence of Western Utopianism.\u201d Utopian Studies<\/em>, 10:2 (1999) p.90 [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  2. Ibid. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  3. Ibid. p.91 [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  4. Ibid. [↩<\/a>]<\/span> [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  5. Kinya Tsuruta. \u201cThe Defeat of Rationality and the Triumph of Mother \u2018Chaos\u2019: Akutagawa Ry\u016bnosuke\u2019s Journey.\u201d\u00a0Japan Review<\/i>, 11 (1999) p.75 [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  6. Ibid. p.84 [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  7. Rosa Vania Setiowati, \u2018Capitalism as an Ideology Criticised through Allegory in Ry\u016bnsosuke Akutagawa\u2019s Kappa\u2019, Journal of Language and literature, <\/i>16:2 (2016) p.178 [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  8. Ibid. p.187 [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Meiji period has often been characterised as the \u201cutopian era in modern Japanese history\u201d, marked by widespread enthusiasm for western novels that could construct new societal possibilities1. Depicting utopia in fiction requires an ambiguous interplay between the two poles of reality and fiction, allowing space for reflection on Japanese society2.Mochi emphasises how examining Japanese … Continue reading “Kappanese or Japanese? Ry\u016bnsosuke Akutagawa and the influence of Utopian Literature in early 20th century Japan”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1369"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1372,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1369\/revisions\/1372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}