The Intertextual Narration of Multiple Personality in Kara No Kyōkai
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International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, Vol. 6, No. 3, September 2020 Cross-Media, Intercultural and Interdisciplinary: The Intertextual Narration of Multiple Personality in Kara no Kyōkai Yue Zhang personality‖? This paper bases the following arguments on Abstract—As a famous Japanese film series adapted a from the discussion about intertextuality among different icons, light novel, Kara no Kyōkai: the Garden of Sinners shows an including the text inner and outside film, as well as image of Shiki Ryōgi with multiple personality. Multiple cross-cultural text. The core of its discussion lies in the skill personality in narrative works is still a controversial topic, but of intertextuality to construct lines inner or outside pieces of as one of the most famous works of Type-Moon, the film series does not just focus on and depict the mental state. Instead, with works. the direct connection to “the origin”, Shiki’s personalities establish the intertextuality inner and outside the film. It also hybridizes icons in western and eastern culture contexts, such as II. INTERTEXTUALITY BETWEEN MEDICAL SCIENCE AND collective unconsciousness, anima and animus, and Tai Chi. NARRATIVE WORKS Moreover, this film series presents both the typical Otaku elements and the cultural landscape in the 1990s. This paper The term ―intertextuality‖ has increasingly become a key attempts to explore how Kara no Kyōkai applies multiple word of postmodern aesthetics theory since the second half of personality to build intertextuality and cultural comparability. the twentieth century. The term was firstly coined by Julia Kristeva in 1960s, which claims that meaning is mediated or Index Terms—Shiki Ryōgi, Kara no Kyōkai, multiple filtered through the ―codes‖ imparted to the writer and reader personality, intertextuality. by other texts [1]. It is widely used in semiotic research now. As Tong Ming says in his article, ―every text can be waved into a net‖, ―the space of text can not only refer to the I. INTRODUCTION relationships between texts, but also signifies their dialogue, The anime Kara no Kyōkai: The Garden of Sinners (―Kara consciousness, and confrontation and the combination and no Kyōkai‖ for short) is an animated film adaptation of transformation of new and old semantics.‖ [2] In Kara no Japanese light novel series. The whole series of Kara no Kyōkai, it is established on the relationship between medical Kyōkai is based on the stories around Shiki Ryōgi, and is science, which refers to Shiki‘s multiple personality, and the totally divided into nine chapters — the former eight ordinary narrativity of the work. chapters and the last one called ―The Epilogue‖. When the As is referred to above, multiple personality is one of the former eight films are released, ―Kara no Kyōkai‖ quickly core elements in Kara no Kyōkai. The girl named Shiki Ryōgi became one of the biggest IP among Type-Moon works, with originally owned three personalities two years ago, with a a high grade in box office and satisfying sale statistics of CDs. male one called SHIKI (織), a female one called Shiki (式), The novel series was previously published by Type-Moon, and an ―origin Shiki‖ (根源) or a so-called ―Void Shiki‖. The which is also the producer of the film series. They were last one gave birth to the first two opposite personalities initially known and read by the old fans of the author, Kinoko without their recognition. But two years ago, Shiki lost the Nasu, but then with the release of the first film adaptation, male one in a traffic accident. Then Shiki found she could not they gradually attracted more non-fanatical audiences. The awake SHIKI, which means male personality (SHIKI) heroine Shiki Ryōgi (兩儀式) is with multiple personality replaced the female personality (Shiki) to die in that accident. and enters into the Top.10 popular characters in the Because SHIKI always showed killing impulses and as long Type-Moon‘s 10th Anniversary Character Poll. But multiple as he was alive, Shiki could not be in normality in front of the personality is not the topic peculiar to Kara no Kyōkai, many hero, Mykiya Konkdo (黑桐幹也), for Mykiya damaged the narrative works, like the ones in contemporary novel and film, balance between the male and female personalities. So, also talks about it. SHIKI chose to disappear to protect Shiki‘s future. Two years As a company simultaneously producing electronic games, later since the traffic accident, Shiki wakes up and finds she Type-Moon is typically famous for its settings and plot lines, has lost the male personality. She tries to console the sense of especially the countless intertextual lines among different empty after losing SHIKI, and acts like a boy to fill the hole games of ―Fate‖ series, ―Tsukihime‖ series, and ―Mahōtsukai left by SHIKI in her mind. In other words, whether Shiki lost no Yoru‖ series. Thus, how can the multiple personality plays one personality or not, she still has at least two opposite a role among the intertextual media, culture, and disciplines? personalities. Why are narrative works fond of the theme ―multiple However, multiple personality has more complex circumstances in real life. It is also known as Dissociative Manuscript received May 8, 2020; revised August 10, 2020. Identity Disorder (DID), which means a person can have at Yue Zhang is with the School of Arts, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China (e-mail: [email protected]). least two distinctive enduring personality states. The DID doi: 10.18178/ijlll.2020.6.3.266 142 International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, Vol. 6, No. 3, September 2020 cases were reported as early as in the 1810s by S.W. Mitchell. different conditions. Media culture and professional According to the researchers‘ investigation, 32 cases were disciplines are two completely different things. The key point recorded in the documents from 1817 to 1900, and 47 cases of a film or literary work is not to have more knowledge of from 1901 to 1969. Later on, more than 50 cases were medicine or psychology, but to use this theme to reference reported in the 1970s, which means patients diagnosed with and to analyze the intertextuality among this work, other DID were showing up faster and faster [3]. Even at the start narrative works and different culture. The main controversial of this mental state, it was always mistakenly diagnosed as points don‘t lie in multiple personality itself, but the overuse schizophrenia until some scholars suggested to regard it as a and exaggeration of mental disorder. separate syndrome [4]. Thus, it‘s unwise to just apply the multiple personality in Multiple personality is not a new theme in narrative works. medical science to narrative works. In fact, Shiki is not the As early as the 17th century, the theme of split personality typical ―patient‖ with multiple personality, because of the explicitly appeared in European plays, such as The Tragical existence of ―the Origin‖ (根源), a complete personality History of Doctor Faustus (1592) by English dramatist controls SHIKI and Shiki. Her multiplicity is closely Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593). In the 1800s, apart from connected to the ―the Origin‖. On one hand, ―The Origin‖ European, the novelists in other countries also developed this governs the cause of life and death and is the truth of the theme into their works, such as Notes from Underground world. Each person has their own origin, and the whole world (Записки из подполья,1864) and The Double (Двойник, also has its origin. One the other hand, ―The Origin‖ produces 1846) by Fyodor Dostoevsk (ФёдорnДостоевский, multiple personalities in two ways: One is giving multiple 1821-1881) in the middle of the 19th century. And in the film personalities to a single body, like Shiki Ryōgi. The other industry, Kara no Kyōkai is not the first film that puts the way is dividing many kinds of personalities into many characteristic of multiple personality into the quality of the different bodies, with each body owning one single main character. Several movies like Psycho (1960), Fight personality. Magicians‘ fundamental dreams are based Club (1999), and A Beautiful Mind (2001) had raised the commonly on finding the origin of the world. According to storm of discussion about multiple personality. these ways, magicians also have two ways of approaching the Generally speaking, with the progress in psychiatric and origin: one is to find the single body directly connecting the psychological field, more people are paying attention to their origin, like what Soren Araya (荒耶宗蓮) does in Kara no psychological state. Then, ―multiple personality‖ becomes a Kyōkai. The other is to explore the collective so hot topic that the researcher Heike Schwarz presents unconsciousness in multiple personality, which is the mission several films with this theme, with the exclamation that of the Holy Grail War in ―Fate Series‖. So, Shiki‘s ―there is hardly another topic so overused than MPD‖ [5]. personalities become a representation of the rules of the Schwarz‘s surprise is reasonable. The term ―multiple world because of ―the Origin‖ produces her identities. personality‖ is always misunderstood and simplified as a Because of ―the Origin‖ that constructs the expansive definition that if a character has two or more characteristics Type-Moon world, Shiki‘s personalities, as the direct simultaneously, he or she can be classified as one with connection of the Origin, can pave the path for the multiple personality. Yet, in fact, Multiple characteristics are construction of whole settings in the film series. Compared not equal to multiple personalities in the medical field. DID is with some other anime titles with characters of multiplicity, more complex than people‘s imagination and is still a like Ranma Nibun-no-Ichi (1987) and Neon Genesis controversial issue.