Thousand Cranes and the Old Capital

PERSPECTIVES ON THE USE OF ECO-CRITICAL TROPES IN YASUNARI KAWABATA’S NOVELS: THOUSAND CRANES AND THE OLD CAPITAL

1PREETHAM ADIGA, 2ANUPA LEWIS

1Post-Graduate Student, School of Communication, Manipal University, India. Orcid: orcid.org/ 0000-0003-1395-499X. 2Asst. Professor, Dept. of Media Studies, School of Communication, Manipal University, Orcid: orcid.org/0000-0002-2425- 1045. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract - ‘Yasunari Kawabata’, a celebrated Japanese novelist, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in the year 1972. At this juncture, three of his books, i.e. Snow Country, Thousand Cranes and The Old Capital, treated as a compendium series, were nominated towards the coveted award. While Kawabata won laurels for his quaint depiction of traditional Japan during the war and post-war period (World War II), acclaimed critics such as Tsuruta and Hibbett critiqued him for his ‘melancholic lyricism’, given that his books as yet reverberate the age old Japanese literary tradition of representational ‘haiku brevity’ dressed in painful modern idioms. More specifically, his works are commended for displaying a ‘broad and lasting’ appeal, and still continue to exude a pincer-hold over the international reader-community. For instance, as a striking characteristic feature, one derives, a vague ‘sense of loneliness’ and a narrative outline emphasizing ‘preoccupation with death in the presence of the other’ pervades most of his works,– reflecting the ethos of his times. Besides, the abrupt scenic transitions between distinct ‘brief and lyrical’ episodes, the exquisite use of ‘symbolic imagery’, the candid focus of ‘metaphor’, has frequently amazed every arbiter due to its capacity for creating forever-lasting ‘incompatible impressions’. In that, given the thread of ‘literary anthropology’, the juxtaposition of ‘beauty’ with ‘disgust’ in his novels recreates the aura of the sublime, an aspect nestled in the crest of Japanese prose hailing from the seventeenth century. As such, the current research paper is geared towards unveiling the psychoanalytical problem of ‘eco-phobia’ in relation to various eco-critical tropes in two of Yasunari Kawabata’s novels: them being, Thousand Cranes and The Old Capital.

Keywords - Eco-criticism, the sublime, Yasunari Kawabata, Thousand Cranes, The Old Capital, Japanese Literature, Cultural Studies

I. INTRODUCTION: ECO-CRITICISM AND construct the environment, both natural and KAWABATA manmade.’ Thereof, at a tangent, the challenge in literary anthropology would be to evaluate how the ‘Eco-criticism’ as a novel paradigmatic approach in depiction of ‘nature’ is ‘culturally constructed’. qualitative methodology is abranch of ‘literary Yasunari Kawabata is laudably the first Japanese anthropology’, often described in contemporary writer – celebrated forhis Modernist strain of circles as an intermediary bridge ‘between literature thought– to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1968. and the physical environment’. Known for his ethnocentric depiction of traditional An area that emerged in the 1980’s, amidst the Japanese lifestyle bordering on Shinto beliefs (that environment movement that took off in the 1960’s verge on nature worship) alongside exhibiting a with the publication of Rachel Carsen’s Silent Spring, lyrical flair for tanka poetry bordering on Zen eco-criticism has since been regarded as ‘an earth Buddhism, Kawabata is comparable only with the centered approach,’ investigating the complex likes of eminent figures like Yukio Mishima, Kobe intersection between environment and culture. In this Abe and Haruki Murakami. line of enquiry, it is derived that ‘human culture is connected to the physical world, affecting it and Kawabata’s characters are prominently known to affected by it.’ As such, eco-criticism as a mode of express an ‘ethical and aesthetical cultural awareness’ study is deemed to validate the necessity of an in tune with what is today applauded as Japanese interdisciplinary conduit, calling upon the orientalism (The Jakarta Post). The ambient themes combinatory views of scientists, writers, literary he uses range from representations of the Japanese tea critics, anthropologists, historians, psychoanalysts ceremony to ethnic calligraphy, local variants of and the like, who would otherwise be dispensed with traditional ink paintings, ceramic art, and nature in the light of being considered an authority in the imagery focusing on facets such as the seasonal case, at timeseven placed on the periphery. To this emphasis on cherry blossoms, maple leaves, the effect, the discipline per se to begin with may autumn moon, and the winter snow, amongst others. curiously be construed as the other of literary As such, his works may be studied in the light of criticism. From a narrower lens, one conjectures, literary anthropology, which aims to document ecocriticism presents a means by which we ‘examine literature as a synchronic representation of a ourselves and the world around us, critiquing the particular period’s characteristic traits in all its manner in which we represent, interact with, and authenticity.

Proceedings of ASAR International Conference, 07th January, 2018, Goa, India 16 Perspectives on the use of Eco-Critical Tropes in Yasunari Kawabata’s Novels: Thousand Cranes and the Old Capital Yasunari Kawabata’s novel The Thousand Cranes the attributes of eco-criticism to explain the silence of contains all the writer’s emblematic hallmarks: nature which would otherwise be incomprehensible, beautiful language, obsession, and contempt for the or rather cannot be intensified. Maral (2013) in her era. Ultimately, the novel is not a study of the power article Ecocriticism in Arundati Roy’s The God of men wields over women, but a work suffused with Small Things aligns ecocriticism with ecological loneliness and disorientation at the failure of art, activism and social theory, i.e. the drive of seeking literature and even the tea ceremony to create a more awareness towards the environment by linking ideal world (The Japan Times). Kawabata in his literary texts with scientific approaches. Klages prefatory note declares,The Thousand Cranes as “an (2017) explains why ecocriticism is a discipline expression of doubt and warning against the vulgarity propelled more by ideology than methodology. into which the tea ceremony has fallen”. The context Rigby (2007) in her book Literary and Cultural of the tea ceremony in Kawabata’s novel may be seen Criticism in the Twenty-First Century illustrates how as a metaphor for Japanese culture, making it clear the culture hypothesizes the frame through which one that Kawabata saw life in contemporary Japan as perceives nature. Moreover, she suggests, ‘nature’ is vulgar (Devere, 1988, pp. 379). the most complex word to define in the rubric of Leading dailies have paid homage to Kawabata’s language and is a cultural and literary construct. novels which are regarded as‘secret gardens with Bertens (2008) in his book Literary Theory: The sadly beautiful flowers’. For instance, The Old Basics observes, nature is depicted in several ways Capital is ‘an elegiac meditation on the cultural based on the context, conjecturing nature is a self- heritage of Kyoto in which the story moves from evident source of metaphors for people’s moral spring to winter in scenes that seem more painted concerns. Exemplifying several notable works, he than written, with human experience reflected in explains how nature in used to convey a wide range nature’(The Japan Times). In The Old Capital, of feelings such as nostalgia, desire, fear and Kawabata rejoices in taking us through ‘one year of temptation. acutely observed natural changes in Kyoto, acting as Davis (1983) in his book Japanese religion and a tour guide and historian for some of the city’s Society: Paradigms of structure and change describes countless ritual celebrations: the Hollyhock Festivals, a spate of literature called the ‘Japan theory’ which the Fire Festival, the Festival of Ages’(The New explains all aspects of Japanese life in terms of York Times). homogeneity of people, uniqueness in their culture, As such, going by the awards, criticism and reviews emphasizing value-based systemsfounded on that Kawabata has received, it is deemed important to asceticism and social obligation. Japan theory also understand his perspective on ‘Japan in transition’ explores the modal personality based on ego during the period of the World War, in terms of both repression and dependent collectivism. In contrast, the ‘preservation’ and ‘evolution’ of traditional norms Davis points at some scholars who have attempted to and mores. debunk the Japan theory claiming that the politeness and loyalty of the people are merely strategies of self- II. LITERARY ANTHROPOLOGY, ECO- interest. He observes, Japanese morality has been CRITICISM AND KAWABATA’S FICTION traditionally measured by the ‘degree of honour or shame’ an individual has brought upon his or her The literature review provides a theoretical ancestors. framework for the understanding of Ecocriticism as a Roemer (2007) holds a view that Japanese traditions mode of interpreting a literary work. and rituals are characterized by a ‘syncretistic blend’ Markowski (2012) in his article Anthropology and of Shinto, Buddhist and folk religions. He correlates Literature describes how literary anthropology not the participation in Japanese rituals with community only explains facts using literature, but also values awareness which is often perceived as an obligation, the facts, which cannot be neglected. In other words, making it difficult to judge the ‘extent of salience’ of the facts explained in literary anthropology cannot be a community. Toshio (1981) in his essay Shinto in the discarded as trivial details, as these details form the history of Japanese Religion finds that Shintoism essence of ethnography and can be used to understand bears the traits of a ‘primitive religion’ including the prevailing conditions of a particular period. Tilley nature worship and following no system of doctrine. and Daum (2017) in their paper Anthropology of He describes Shintoism to be the underlying will of Landscape: materiality, embodiment, contestation and Japanese culture as it has been the ‘crucial element’ emotion explain as to how landscapes form the basis in bringing about the ‘great mix’ of religions such as of poetry and novels, although the expression never Zen Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. Kitasawa appears due to the usage of several other multiple (1915) in his text Shintoism and the Japanese Nation terms. Theduo provide an in-depth explanation on focuses on the Shinto aspects of ‘ancestors and nature why the study of ‘landscape’ is a topic worthy of worship’. He justifies why ancestral worship becomes consideration in social and cultural anthropology. explicit and necessary by pointing at traditional Oppermann (1991) in her essay Eco-criticism: beliefs which suggest a ‘mutually dependent’ Natural World in the Literary Viewfinder focuses on relationship between the living and the dead.

Proceedings of ASAR International Conference, 07th January, 2018, Goa, India 17 Perspectives on the use of Eco-Critical Tropes in Yasunari Kawabata’s Novels: Thousand Cranes and the Old Capital Okakura (2001) in his work The Book of Tea III. ECO-CRITICISM AS A discusses the entry of tea into religion and METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR aestheticism. He elaborates how the concept of tea KAWABATA’S NOVELS influenced the Japanese way of life and revolutionized the artifacts and architecture. Reider Emphasis on an ‘eco-critical approach to literary (2012) in her article Chanoyu: following ceremony to anthropology’ from a psychoanalytic perspective a tea describes the impact of tea on sociopolitical, would predicate viewing literature as a ‘primary economic, and metaphysical factors in the history of source’ of enquiry into larger questions about Japanese culture. She explains how the ‘idea of tea’ ‘cultural attitudes towards nature and definitions of dominates Japanese culture by incorporating it with nature’. This would primarily involve the trope of the practice of Zen Buddhism. Omura (2004) ‘eco-phobia’. provides evidence why importance is given to trees in Chin-Ching Lee, in his work, From Nature/Culture Shintoism. He also explains the significance of trees Dyad to Ecophobia: A study of King Lear, defines such as thesakaki, pines and peach trees in Shintoism. ‘ecophobia’ as ‘the fear of inconsistency and Gidoni (1999) in her article Kimono and the unpredictability of the nature’ followed by ‘the desire construction of Gendered and Cultural Identities to manipulate nature to decrease the threat’. In his suggests that in contemporary Japan, the kimono is case study of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Lee justifies used as a tool to construct gender identity, i.e. by not this statement by referring to Estok, who postulates only inventing it as ‘national attire’ but also marking ecophobia is ‘an irrational and groundless fear or it as the ‘female attire’. She further explains how hatred of the natural world’ which justifies man’s western attire dominates the use of kimono post the need to ‘dominate nature’. Thus, Lee interprets, Meiji era. ‘man’s groundless fear or hatred towards the natural Tsuruta (1971) in his article The Flow-Dynamics in world’ is caused by ‘the failure of cultural dominance Yasunari Kawabata’s Snow Country focuses on over nature’ (pp. 273-276). Kawabata’s nature oriented imagery, and is Lee goes on to cite Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, who fascinated by the rawness of the depiction. He exemplifies ‘the Great Chain of Being’ which was observes, in constructing the plot, Kawabata selects ‘the most prevalent ideology’ during the Renaissance two features: the first from the ‘world of man’ and the era, presenting ‘authority’ to humans over nature. He second from the domain of ‘nature’, and lets them suggests, ‘nature is relegated in a position of ‘collide in a most extraordinary fashion’. He declares servitude to man’ (pp. 272). In addition, Lee argues such collision results in a beautiful scene where a that such ‘anthropocentric ideology’ proposed the clear emphasis is placed upon the flow of scenery idea that ‘humans beings bear intrinsic values’ while outside. Hibbett (1966) in his work Tradition and the rest of ‘creatures and surroundings displayed Trauma in the Contemporary Japanese Novel instrumental values’. Lee cites Felipe Fernandez- observes the ‘faint implication’ in the dialogues of Armesto, who argues, since ‘human arrogance’ Kawabata’s novels which often betray the readers’ coincides with ‘hierarchical orders in the Great Chain trust in their ‘intuitive understanding’. He observes of Being’, this resulted in the ‘cultural notion’ that Kawabata’s style of narration where he prefers to denoted the intention “to ‘denature’ humanity: to hints at the inner life and momentary feelings of the fillet the savage out – to domesticate the wild man characters through gestures rather than explicitly within by elaborate clothes and manners” (pp. 274). analyzing the characters at length. He interprets, since Lee further mentions Estok, who claims ‘the cultural Kawabata has the habit of ‘adding episodes’ from control of nature’ and ‘the general contempt for time to time, his novels ‘rarely come to a decisive savagery’ generated the idea of ‘ecophobia’ – which end’, and slowly grow over a period of time; their implies ‘the primary way that humanity responds to slow growth often seeming to occur by ‘a process of nature’ (Lee, 2015, pp. 274). natural accretion’. Some important questions that are verified in the discussion of eco-critical tropes are as follows: a) As such, given that Japanese literature in particular is How is nature represented in the text? b) How has the a niche area which has recently come under the concept of nature changed overtime? c)How is the scrutiny of trends in world literature, it would be setting of the ‘text’ related to environment? d) How important to pay homage to the pioneer - Yasunari are the roles or representations of men and women Kawabata - who brought laurels to his land at a time towards the environment depicted in a text? e)How is when his co-litterateurs were yet to make their mark. the environment placed in the power hierarchy? f) Is In the same mode on enquiry, despite Kawabata ‘nature’ [environment, ethnicity groups, women, making his mark as a Nobel laureate, his works, i.e. minorities, immigrants etc.] empowered or oppressed his novels have not been sufficiently researched, in the work? g) How are cultural attitudes rhetorically although there has been a lot of speculation on the represented in the narrative? eco-critical perspectives he seems to employ in all his (https://owl.english.purdue.edu). diverse narratives, which is identified as the research Furthermore, Ursula K. Heisewhile factoring in the gap. ideological concept of the other, suggests eco-

Proceedings of ASAR International Conference, 07th January, 2018, Goa, India 18 Perspectives on the use of Eco-Critical Tropes in Yasunari Kawabata’s Novels: Thousand Cranes and the Old Capital criticism particularly focuses on how cultural compulsion– the Oedipus complex: which, in its communities at different historical periods modest meaning, translates to a boy’s unconscious contemplate on the following questions: 1) What is rivalry with his father for the love of his mother. the definition of ‘nature’? 2) How is the connection Interestingly, Freud’s disciple, psychoanalyst Ernest between humans and their natural environment Jones, provides a full-scale psychoanalytical perceived? 3) What are the cultural functions framework for reading any significant literary work attributed to ‘the natural’? She observes, “such in this regard. In Jones’s Hamlet and Oedipus (1910), implicit and explicit concepts of nature manifest the critic argues, prince Hamlet is one who suffers across a wide range of cultural practices and artifacts, from ‘maniac depressive hysteria’ combined with among which storytelling figures prominently(2008, ‘abulia’, all of which may be traced to the hero’s p.129-130).”To this effect Ursula stresses the value of severely repressed Oedipal feelings. His obsession ‘genre’, ‘viewpoint’ and ‘realism’ as sub-components with duty, his problem of indecision, his physical of what she terms –‘ecological storytelling’; an area revulsion to sex, his treatment of Ophelia,are all where one can interpret Kawabata’s novels(Hermen resultant of his innate psychological dilemma. The et al., 2008). ambivalence that alludes to Hamlet’s attitude towards In exploring the thematic and aesthetic portrayal of his father is especially dramatized in the characters of Yasunari Kawabata’s novels –Thousand Cranes and the ghost (the kind ‘loving father’ who the child TheOld Capital– principally viewed as ‘eco- identifies with), and Claudius (the hated father narratives’,the following areas are covered: character viewed as ‘tyrant and rival’) – both being projections depiction, attributes andview-point, ethnic setting, of the hero’s own conscious-unconscious behavior imagery (visual/ auditory/ olfactory/ gustatory/ towards the idea of a father figure(Guerin, Wilfred L. tactile/ kinesthetic), and use of figurative language et al, 2010). (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, onomatopoeia/ A corollary to the oedipal complex in Hamlet can be allusion). Further on, from the periscope of literary quaintly noticed in the workings of Kikuji’s mind in anthropology, the novels are sieved and compared Thousand Cranes. In terms of ‘characterization’, from the lens of eco-criticism, registering an acute Kawabata has focused more on the psychological focus on the employment of important ‘eco-critical attributes of his male protagonist,whoevidently tropes’: anthropocentrism, biocentrism, ecocentrism; suffers from the oedipal complex of parental fracture ‘the pastoral’ versus ‘the wilderness’; ‘nature’ versus and neurotic fixation. For instance, he perennially ‘culture’; ‘place’ versus ‘space’; ‘the country’ versus tries to fit into the role of his dead father, hankering ‘the city’. to imbibe his psychological traits even while abhorring them.He is at once fascinated with the IV. ECO-PHOBIA: KAWABATA’S episcopal imagethat his father represents, but is also ‘ENIGMATIC PROTAGONISTS’ averse to his cloying memory. Kikuji’s father once owned a teeming large tea-cottage filled with exotic Psychoanalytical theory on the lines of Freud when ethnic artefacts, and led a settled pastoral life attached applied on the literary front necessitates that a work’s to the pedantic style of Japanese living prevalent in total thematic and aesthetic context be clearly his times. We see him as one who nursed the fetish of defined. Freud associated the mental processes of multiple mistresses to consort with apart from his every being with three psychic zones: the id, the ego wife, which is not a taboo in his locale. Almost in and the super ego. opposition, Kikujiin growing up as an imaginative ‘Id’ is a reservoir of libido, the primal source of all child finds the ‘tea cottage’ to be a ‘burden’, and psychic energy that caters to the ‘pleasure’ principle. initially despises the pastoral way of life, desiring to It is in Freud’s own terms ‘the obscure inaccessible run away into the urban wilderness of the city. In this part of our personality’, ‘a chaos’, ‘a cauldron of connection, his sexual fantasies are riveted on queer seething excitement’ catering to instinctual needs. symbolic images and remote objects linked with The id knows ‘no values, no good and evil, no hyperbolic dream appropriations of the key women in morality.’On the contrary, ‘the ego’ is the other of id, his father’s life: the abominable birthmark on the rational governing agent of the psyche Chikako’s skin; Mrs. Ota’s pouting lips,her administered by the ‘reality’ principle; the arbitrator prominent lipstick marks on the tea bowl, her Shino between the world within and the world without. The flower-jar; Fumiko’s attractive bodily attributes – ‘super ego’ is the ‘moral censoring agency’, the long white neck, round face, lips, her familiar odour; ‘repository of conscience and pride’, dominated by theeye-catching symbol of the thousand cranes on the the ‘morality’ principle, a by-product of being pristine looking Inamuramaiden’s kerchief;the scene conscious of societal surveillance. Additionally, of nausea on the sight of anything distinctly ‘red’.In Freud held, adolescence is a period of ‘intense sexual collusion, the female characters in the novel - Mrs. experience’, whereupon every growing individual is Ota, Chikako and Fumiko - are cast in terms of their frustrated in gratifying the needs experienced due to physical and emotional characteristics in relation to which the adult personality may suffer being Kikuji’s flowing thoughts of eroticism: such as the warped/arrested/fixated. He termed this psychological focus on their ‘grotesque corporal

Proceedings of ASAR International Conference, 07th January, 2018, Goa, India 19 Perspectives on the use of Eco-Critical Tropes in Yasunari Kawabata’s Novels: Thousand Cranes and the Old Capital description’,eliciting a mixed response of ‘mystery’, signifies the ‘extent of disassociation’ that characters ‘guilt’ and ‘sorrow’. Paradoxically, Kikuji fears the continually suffer from in the atmosphere of Japanese women as much as he admires them which is nothing ethnicity. In Thousand Cranes, ‘ethnicity’ is but a veiled struggle between his id and ego. In this perceived as a ‘burden’ for individual freedom, interpretation, one notes, the mistresses signpost the whereas in The Old Capital, ‘ethnicity’ is seen as an clandestine camouflaged presence of what may be ‘obstacle’ to adapt to the changing world post the termed the surrogate mother-figure that Kikuji Second World War. If one were to view ethnicity in harbors to possess unwittingly. The women are terms of customs, rituals and other such communal exoticized and allocated the space of transient nature, embellishments, the symbolic landscape of the novels totaling to Kikuji’s unacknowledged stigma of must be considered. Broadly, Thousand Cranes ecophobia. By this measure, he is continually shown revolves around the practice of the ‘tea ceremony’ in to run away from hisnative land and the women time traditional tea cottages which involves the use of and again, fearing the tactile impeachment of ‘the specific antique tea utensils, each invested with wilderness’: the wilderness of the lush mountain antiquarian value. Furthermore, regarding the greens on one hand juxtaposed with the wilderness of depiction of environment, one predicates an emphasis promiscuous unwarranted cravings on the other. In on Shinto motifs in the surroundings which cater to a continuum, Kikuji as an adult is ultimately portrayed pagan or pan-psychic perspective: such as, reverence as one who gradually dons the idyllic role of his to details in the tea garden, the peach tree that shuns father, taking possession of his collection of ancestral evil, the oleander tree that emits a pleasing fragrance, belongings, thereof complicity making peace with his the pomegranate tree which is a venerable sign of environs. By accepting the quietude of his pastoral fertility. Thereof, the characters respond to each surroundings, he is finally able to surmount the aspect of nature, communing with the pastoral means repressed ailment of ecophobia. of life. The Old Capital, on the contrary, underlines In a capsule, Kikuji represents the younger generation the issue of people disconnecting from the traditional in contemporary Japan which is in transition between way of life and moving towards the influx of ‘pastoral life’ and ‘city life’, i.e. ‘idyllic nature in its modernization. To this effect, in both the novels, primeval essence’ and the latter ‘urban wilderness’. environment and ethnicity issues dominate the Chikako represents the older generation which is cultural mores of the scenery. Clearly enough, we see accustomed to the outmoded way of life. Fumiko it in the depiction of various Shinto shrines such as – embodies the major segment of the younger Kiyomizu, Gion, Kurama, Adashino, Arashiyama – generation influenced by western ideas such as the that act as centers for nature-centric customs and juxtaposition of ‘individuality and independence’ in festivals: the Festival of Ages, the Fire festival, the contemporary Japan. Bamboo cutting ceremony, and the ritual ‘flower In The Old Capital the author has focused more on viewing’ in spring. By exemplifying these rites and the emotional and mental attributes of his characters. festivities, the Shinto ambience is represented via Chieko, the protagonist of the novel is portrayed in visual and kinesthetic images. The ‘pastoral’ way of tune with nature: she has a strong sense of self, life is peppered with replete instances of several accepts the pastoral way of life, and follows Shinto communities gathering on special occasions: the practices with alacrity and mirth. Takichiro by this traditional handloom weavers, Shirakawa or the measure represents the older generation struggling to agrarian community, the movement of wholesale dry- choose between the traditional and modern way of goods merchants, and the life of mountain based life. Here unto, among the youth, Hideo chooses the woodcutters. The infiltration of westernization into Shinto way of life, while Ryusuke is seen to be the lives of all is portrayed where ‘change’ becomes belonging to the materialistic class, oriented towards irredeemable in the face of ‘modernity’, i.e. dwelling gradient streaks in modernity. In between, Chieko’s on an ornate anthropocentric perspective which and Naeko’s struggle is amid the past and the present, displays the verve to ‘dominate’ environment in given its inescapable consequence of deplorable entirety. change. Thereunto, the feature of ‘ceaseless In constructing the ‘setting’ in Thousand Cranes, the longing’,‘lament’and ‘nostalgia’ establishes the author emphasizes more on the tea ceremony and covert meaning of the narrative grid. describes the tea cottage (in terms of area, to be eight mats), the traditional house with its lush garden V. ECO-CRITICAL TROPES - THOUSAND (consisting of trees of cultural importance such as the CRANES AND THE OLD CAPITAL peach, pomegranate, maple, oleander and pines), ancient tea vessels and other ethnic artifacts (such as The central focus of both the novels Thousand Cranes Shino, Raku, Karatsu and Oribe). Moreover, visual, and The Old Capital revolves around the ‘transition auditory, olfactory, tactile and kinesthetic images are of time’ forcing the prime characters to involuntarily used mainly to depict the aspects of ‘wilderness in choose between ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity on one human nature’. Visual and tactile images are hand, and ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ on the other. primarily used to mark the ethnic artifacts. However, the ‘rate of change’ typified in the narrative Furthermore, simile, metaphor and hyperbole become

Proceedings of ASAR International Conference, 07th January, 2018, Goa, India 20 Perspectives on the use of Eco-Critical Tropes in Yasunari Kawabata’s Novels: Thousand Cranes and the Old Capital the dominant figures of speech to describe the place and space, the ‘dirty little bar’ at Ginza and the nuanced facets of environment and ethnicity. ‘inn at Kamakura’ act as the ‘space’ of recluse Allusion is limited to depict the time of the year i.e. comfort in the development of the story. In The Old through the verbiage linked with the seasons. In The Capital, there is a clear distinction between the Old Capital the setting consists of the Old Capital i.e. country and the city. The ‘cedar village on the Kyoto in its transitional phase, its shrines (such as Kitayama mountain’ represents the ‘country’ while Heian, Kiyomizu, Gion, Kurama, Adashino and the old capital i.e. Kyoto represents the ‘city’. For Arashiyama) and festivals (such as the festival of characters such as Chieko and Naeko, the ages, the Kurama fire festival, the bamboo cutting ‘wilderness’ in nature provides the essence of ceremony, the Gion festival etcetera), and its arcane ‘space’; and for characters like Takichiro, the ethnic landscapes (such as the Kamo river, the botanical tea (or geisha) house becomes the ‘space’ of artificial gardens, the Kitayama mountain). The setting ‘urban wilderness’. influences the lives of various characters that face the ‘Ecophobia’ in both the novels is showcased as the effects of modernization directly or indirectly in the inevitable consequence of anthropocentrism. In narrative. As such, the author has employed visual Thousand Cranes, ecophobia is attributed to the and kinesthetic images primarily to depict the failure in understanding the true meaning behind settings. However, in both the novels there are no severalethnic practices. In addition, the inability to instances for gustatory images and onomatopoeia. cope with the wilderness of ‘human nature’ is also the ‘Anthropocentrism’ becomes the predominant cause for ecophobia. In The Old Capital the reason perspective in both the novels. In Thousand Cranes, for ecophobia is similarly comparable: failure to ethnic beliefs, artifacts, the ‘tea cottage’ and the ‘tea comprehend nature inexorably influences the practice’ becomes ‘burdensome’ for the generation characters to retract from the ambivalent topos of the adapting to the modern way of life. Anthropocentrism city. In other words, the city morphs into a neo- is depicted as the result of the failure of culture to archetypal symbol of disconnect, ennui and anxiety. comprehend the symbolism behind ethnic practices and customs. However, the original intent of the CONCLUSION ethnic practices is no doubt that of biocentrism and ecocentrism, although the intent is forgotten. In The The research study disembarks with the following Old Capital, anthropocentrism is projected with conclusions: emphasis on facets of patriarchy, modernism,  Thousand Cranes emphasizes more on the trope materialism and ecophobia. Additionally, of ‘wilderness’ by dwelling on the inherent ‘biocentrism’ is depicted through the means of Shinto qualities in ‘human nature’. The Old Capital rituals. In both the novels, the author hints the future although underlines the ‘wilderness’ of human of Japan to be dominated by an anthropocentric nature, in that there is equal importance perspective. bestowed upon the ‘pastoral’ way of living ‘Nature and culture’ form the major elements in both decreed by Shinto shrines and rituals. In this the novels. The presence of every particular tree in regard, both books explore different aspects of the setting is invested with a unique cultural ‘nature’ with similarity in mood to an optimal significance. In Thousand Cranes human nature is extent. portrayed to be dominated by a subterranean  In terms of all the subtle aspects of ‘nature’ psychosomatic ‘wilderness’. The cultural ‘pastoral’ Thousand Cranes focuses more on the way of life is seen to be declining in the face of ‘wilderness’ of the mind. Whereas in The Old modernity, which suggests a mindset as well as a Capital the dimensions of ‘wilderness’ mode of living. Similarly in The Old Capital, the encompasses the ‘wilderness of mind’ and ‘the ‘pastoral’ aspect of nature is attempted to be concrete wilderness of the city’. In this regard, preserved through Shinto shrine rituals and festivals. one conjectures, The Old Capital covers a Although the effect of permeation of the western broader stretch of ‘the wilderness’. ideas into Japanese culture is noted, the supremacy of  Thousand Cranes alludes to the practice of tea as a flared up egotistic ‘anthropocentric wilderness’ over the seminal link between ethnicity and environment and ethnicity concerns seems inevitable. environment. Whereas in The Old Capital, the In Thousand Cranes the trope of ‘country versus city’ ‘cultural practices’ as a whole are questioned by is restricted due to the limited reference to places. the anthropocentric perspective of succumbing to However the mention of ‘Tokyo central station’ and ‘Western culture’ which appears to be the ‘Kamakura Mountain’ suggests the location of the predictable fate of the future. However, the setting is near Tokyo. The traditional setting of the symbolism behind the customs and rituals of the tea cottage suggests its location to be in the country. Shinto shrines links the text with the Kikuji’s office is indicated to be in the city and has to environment. be traversed by the train. This suggests that the In both the novels, the representation of the ‘male modern notion of ‘development’ revolves around the gender’ dominates the ‘female gender’. In particular, motif of the city. In terms of the relative depiction of the male gender in both the novels is depicted with

Proceedings of ASAR International Conference, 07th January, 2018, Goa, India 21 Perspectives on the use of Eco-Critical Tropes in Yasunari Kawabata’s Novels: Thousand Cranes and the Old Capital the traits of logocentric ‘anthropocentrism’. The [10] Maral, Priyanka (2013). Ecocriticism in Arundati Roy’sThe female gender in The Old Capital is attributed with God of Small Things. Vol. 10(4), pp. 40-42. Accessed on 28/07/2017. the traits of ‘nature or environment’, whereupon it is [11] Markowski, Michal Pawel; Drugie, Teksty (2012). naturalized based on old-fashioned notions of Anthropology and Literature. Vol. 2(1), pp. 85-93. essentialism. In other words, the power hierarchy sees [12] Okakura, Kakuzo (2001). The book of tea. U.S.A: the male gender as the ‘dominating’ force over the Dreamsmyth. [13] Omura, Hiroshi (2004). Trees, Forests and Religion in Japan. female gender and the environment at large in both Vol. 24(2), pp. 179-182. Retrieved from the texts. Thereof, a clear indication of patriarchy is www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1659/02764741. Accessed on seen in the two novels which sums up the presence of 28/08/2017. eco-phobia. [14] Oppermann, S. (1999). Ecocriticism: Natural World in the Literary Viewfinder. Vol. 16(2), pp. 29-46. Considering all the aforementioned aspects, one may [15] Reider, Norika T (2012). Chanoyu: Following Ceremony to a determine that The Old Capital incorporatesa wider Tea. Phi Kappa Phi Forum. Fall 2012 issue, pp. 8-11. definition for terms such as ‘nature, culture, the Retrieved from https://www.phikappaphi.org/docs/default- pastoral, the wilderness, the country, and the city’. source/phi-kappa-phi-forum-documents/online-extras-fall- 2012/chanoyu-article.pdf?sfvrsn=4. Accessed on 12/09/2017. However, the substantive depth to which the [16] Rigby, Kate; Wolfreys, Julian (2007). Literary and Cultural definition of ‘the wilderness, nature, place and space’ Criticism at the Twenty-First Century. Edinburgh: Edinburgh is furnished in the Thousand Cranes,is commendable. UP. [17] Roemer, Michael K. (2007). Ritual Participation and Social Support in a major Japanese Festival. Vol. 46(2), pp. 185- REFERENCES 200. Retrieved from www.jastor.org/stable/4621968. Accessed on 17/07/2017. [1] Bertens, Hans (2008). Literary Theory: The Basics. Great [18] Tilley, Christopher; Cameron-Daum, Kate (2017). The Britain: Routledge. anthropology of landscape: materiality, embodiment, [2] Davis, Winston (1983). Japanese religion and Society: contestation and emotion. Vol. 1, pp. 1-22. Retrieved from Paradigms of structure and change. Albany: State University www.jastor.org/stable/j.ett1mtz542.7. Accessed on Press of New York. 17/07/2017. [3] Gidoni, Ofra (1999). Kimono and the construction of [19] Toshio, Kuroda (1981). Shinto in the history of Japanese Gendered and Cultural Identities. Vol. 38 (4), pp. 351-370. Religion. Vol. 7 (1), pp. 1-21. Retrieved from Retrieved from jstor.org/stable/3773912. Accessed on www.jastor.org/stable/132163. Accessed on 03/09/2017. 02/09/2017. [20] Tsuruta, Kinya (1971). The Flow-Dynamics in Kawabata [4] Guerin, Wilfred L. (2010). A Handbook of Critical Yasunari’s Snow Country. Vol. 26, pp. 251-265. Retrieved Approaches to Literature. New Delhi: Oxford University from www.jstor.org/stable/2383648. Accessed on Press. 18/03/2017. [5] Herman, D et al (2008). Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory. India: Routledge. Online Resources [6] Hibbett, Howard (1966). Tradition and Trauma in the Contemporary Japanese Novel. Vol. 95 (4), pp. 925-940. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/20027010. Accessed on [1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/yasunari-kawabata 17/03/2017. Accessed on 30/07/2017. [7] Kawabata, Yasunari; Seidensticker, Edward G (2011). [2] http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/02/books/kimonos-and- Thousand Cranes. England: Penguin Books. lonely-violets.html. Accessed on 25/07/2017. [8] Kitasawa, Shinjiro (1915). Shintoism and the Japanese [3] https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/13/. Nation. Vol. 23 (4), pp.479-483. Retrieved from Accessed on 30/07/2017. www.jstor.org/stable/27532848. Accessed on 02/09/2017. [4] http://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2017/01/05/-kawabata- [9] Klages, Mary (2017). Literary Theory: The Complete Guide. first-nominated-for-nobel-prize-in-literature-in-66.html. Great Britain: Bloomsbury. Accessed on 26/07/2017.

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