Reality, Identity, Truth. Images of Japan in American Literature Before, During, and After World War II
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Reality, Identity, Truth. Images of Japan in American Literature Before, During, and After World War II Dissertation zur Erlangung des Grades einer Dr. phil. der Philosophischen Fakultät der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf vorgelegt von Ines Sandra Freesen aus Alpen Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Herwig Friedl Zweitgutachterin: Prof. Dr. Michiko Mae Düsseldorf, Januar 2007 D61 Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 30.11.2006 Table of Contents Acknowledgements page 3 Introduction page 4 PART 1: THE SELF AND THE OTHER 1. The Nihonjinron – Institutionalized Self-Awareness in Japan History of American-Japanese encounters – the myth of Japanese uniqueness – literary canon on Japan – Watsuji Tetsuro, Fudo – Nakane Chie, Japanese Society – Doi Takeo, The Anatomy of Dependence – Ruth Benedict, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword page 9 2. "Reality isn't what it used to be" – Identity, Perception and Prejudice Social reality constructs – identity – image vs. reality – knowledge vs. prejudice – points of reference and group pressure – ideology and social control page 53 PART 2: FROM THE OPENING OF JAPAN TO WORLD WAR II 3. Spiritual Re-Orientation I – From Ralph Waldo Emerson to Lafcadio Hearn Japan in American literature from the opening of Japan (1853) to the Meiji Restoration (1868) – Emerson and Zen – "the illusionary appearance of the outer world" – Orientalism – John LaFarge, An Artist's Letters from Japan – Lafcadio Hearn: "Japan's Great Interpreter" – lost Japan – negative images page 77 4. Why We Fight – World War II Propaganda and the Other Side of the Coin National interest vs. individual perception – propaganda images – Joseph Grew, Ten Years in Japan – Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead – John Dos Passos, Tour of Duty – Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Farewell to Manzanar – John Hersey, Hiroshima page 116 PART 3: THE POSTWAR YEARS 5. "Where are the victors?" – The Occupation of Japan The postwar years – Elizabeth Grey Vining, Windows for the Crown Prince – Donald Richie, Where Are the Victors? – James Michener, Sayonara – John Patrick, The Teahouse of the August Moon page 169 6. Spiritual Re-Orientation II – The Beat Generation The Cold War – Beat counterculture – Kenneth Rexroth – Jack Kerouac – Gary Snyder – alienation in America – the promise of ancient Japan – Buddhism and Haiku in America – rejuvenation in American nature page 221 Conclusion page 262 Bibliography page 265 Acknowledgements This study is indebted to many people, above all to my husband Christian Wölk and my parents Elfriede and Karlheinz Freesen who never lost faith in me. I also want to thank my mentor Prof. Herwig Friedl for his continued support, Dr. Regine Mathias-Pauer for first introducing me to nihonjinron, and the unknown bookstore owner in Malboro, Massachusetts who put the first collection of works by Ralph Waldo Emerson into my hands. Without these people the idea for this study would never have been born. 3 Introduction The search for meaning seems to be the guiding principle in every human being's existence. Even the nihilists find a common motive in their negation of meaning. A purpose in life appears as a fundamental prerequisite for the ability to accept one's being of this world. There are infinite approaches to create meaning – as many as there were, are now and will be in future, people on this planet. Each approach relies on a certain understanding of "reality" and "truth". The blueprint which every one of us assumes as the roadmap for his or her actions is grounded in this understanding. Some – like the pragmatists – conclude that there is no such thing as the ultimate truth. They argue that truth is a construct based on beliefs, majority agreement and reference to a model way of life. Truth for them is a consensus man voluntarily subscribes to in order to find his place in a national, or, more likely, social community. Then there are the realists who are firm in their conviction that the law of nature defines truth. They "believe" in an external objectivity which is contrasted to an internal, sometimes fact with fiction confusing subjectivity. In their view of the world what corresponds with visible nature is true. The pragmatist (and the sceptic and the deconstructivist) would surely ask: who has the authority to interpret nature's doings and appearances? What if two people see/describe the same natural phenomenon in two different, even contradictory ways? Who is the omnipotent judge? The religious would answer that God is the only judge, explaining away the discrepancies of life with the inexplicable, with "God's mysterious ways". They, however, have not been able to answer why there are different Gods in different religions proclaiming different "realities" in any other way than saying that these "false-believers" (or heathen) have not yet seen The Light. Religious communities have defined their figues of authority, who because of their enlightened status act as the spokesmen (and male they almost exclusively are) of "truth". The Roman Catholics have the Pope, who by definition is infallible (even though he his not selected by God but voted into his position by majority decision). The Muslims have the Imam, who claims to be the only just and right interpreter of Allah's word. Each religion naturally assumes its superiority over other, "unenlightened" or "misguided" beliefs, and some are more militant than 4 others in driving home that point. The gods of the age of Enlightenment were intellect and reason, good and bad were accordingly defined by rational thinking, which in this worldview must lead to the (only possible) right decision. Yet, all of them – the religious and the rationalists – are believers. They believe in knowledge acquired by facts or divine guidance, in reality presented by science or spirituality. In each case they percieve the world in accordance with a pre-set frame of mind. They can even come to the conclusion that what see, feel and hear cannot be right because it does not correspond with what they believe/have been taught to be true. Individual identity is grounded in these beliefs. The religious believer is part of a community that has accepted a certain conduct as the means to achieve the ultimate goal: salvation and Paradise (in this world or after death). The rational thinker accepts his place in a community in which proper behaviour is deducted from a conviction that everything has a (natural) meaning/purpose so that his role in life is just as predetermined. The third group, the "non-believers" who do not believe in either divine or scientific truth, seem to watch the ongoing battle between the first two with a "knowing" smile. They are firm that the world and being in general are mere illusions. They are believers too, of course, in that they believe in the rule of opinion as opposed to knowledge, in appearance as opposed to reality, in reality constructs as opposed to truth. My thesis is meant to demonstrate the existence of each these views of life in the first place. There are those who "believe", those who "know", and there is ample reason to question the grounds for these hard to shatter convictions. This study then investigates human perception. My argument is that perception is the foundation on which identities and realities are created. The following discussion rests on my conviction that the assumption that there is one truth and one objectivity, which reside above everything, may be the necessary mortar for any society but is nevertheless an illusion. In his collection of essays on the human brain Into the Silent Land Paul Broks recounts an incident from the Italian writer Italo Calvino's novel Mr. Palomar. Palomar tries to capture the rays of the setting sun which are reflected on the surface of the sea and seem to divide the world with a "sword" of dazzling light. "Mr Palomar unterstands that nothing he sees exists in nature. Nature is a bundle of abstractions – particles in the fields of force. 5 The sun, the sea, the sword and the sailboards are inside his head. He floats amoung phantoms."1 Broks concludes that there is "objective reality" and Palomar's "private universe" and a little further on states that "a human being is a story-telling machine. The self is a story."2 Who then is the judge? Who has the authority to say what is real and what is private fiction, if all human beings are story-telling machines? To illustrate my argument I selected various examples for American literature which reflect on the image of Japan. Part 1, Chapter 1 takes a look at the literary canon on the island country and what has come to be known as "nihonjinron", an officially sanctioned self-awareness of Japan. Part 1, Chapter 2 examines social reality constructs, which are what in my view we all contribute to for the sake of finding our place in the world. Part 2 of this work discusses texts from the period of time between the opening of Japan in the 1850s to World War II. The relationship between the United States and Japan was a "troubled encounter"3 at several stages in world history, but there are many positive accounts of the foreign culture and people. The 19th century saw what Benfey calls "The Great Wave"4 of American travelers who sought exoctic adventure and spiritual renewal far away from home. Many of these sojourners were so enchanted with Japan they bought shiploads of art and furniture to take back home to create an oasis of simplicity and peace for themselves. This abruptly ended with the rise of new nationalism in Japan and the developments that led to the Pacific War. Part 2, Chapter 2 takes a close look at how stereotypes are created and instrumentalized for the sake of a "common" goal.