Abe praise for K The Frontier Within obo The Frontier Within Abe Kobo(1924–1993)was one of Japan’s greatest postwar writ- T ers, widely recognized for his imagi- “The Frontier Within redresses the lopsided and biased understanding of he native science fiction and plays of the Abe Kobo as solely a writer of fiction. First and foremost a thinker, he was absurd. However, he also wrote theo- extremely conscious of the fundamental conditions in which language oper- retical criticism for which he is lesser known, that merges literary, histori- ated and human existence was formed. The essays in this volume provide F cal, and philosophical perspectives wonderful insight into Abe Kobo’s engagement with imperialism, border rontier into keen reflections on the nature of creation, postwar ‘democracy,’ U.S.–Japan relations, and postwar Japa- creativity, the evolution of the human nese Marxism.” Richard F. Calichman species, and an impressive range of is professor of Japanese studies at the — ATSUKO UEDA, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, COEDITOR OF other subjects. City College of New York, CUNY. His THEORY OF LITERATURE AND OTHER CRITICAL WRITINGS previous publications include Overcom- essays by Abe Kobo tackled contemporary social ing Modernity: Cultural Identity in War- issues and literary theory with the “Beautifully and meticulously translated with a masterful introduction, Abe time Japan; Contemporary Japanese depth and facility of a visionary thinker. Kobo’s dazzling essays confirm his reputation as one of our greatest think- abe kobo Thought; What Is Modernity? Writings of Featuring twelve essays from his pro- ers of limit-experiences, with philosophical meditation, literary theory, his- Takeuchi Yoshimi; and Takeuchi Yoshimi: lific career—including “Poetry and torical materialism, and aesthetic practice all brought to bear on the fun- Displacing the West. Within Poets (Consciousness and the Uncon- damental question: how to produce a non-fascist mode of existence within scious),” written in 1944, and “The art and literature?” Frontier Within, Part II,” written in 1969—this anthology introduces Eng- — THOMAS LAMARRE, TRANSLATOR OF DEATH SENTENCES AND GILBERT SIMONDON AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE TRANSINDIVIDUAL edited,translated,and lish-speaking readers to Abe Kobo as with an introduction by critic and intellectual for the first time. Demonstrating the importance of his Richard F.Calichman theoretical work to a broader under- standing of his fiction—and a richer Weatherhead Books on Asia portrait of Japan’s postwar imagina- columbia tion—Richard F. Calichman provides COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS / NEW YORK an incisive introduction to Abe Kobo’s cup.columbia.edu achievements and situates his essays historically and intellectually. Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN: 978-0-231-16386-6 Jacket design: Noah Arlow Cover image: Abe Kobo, 1978. ©Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photo. 9 780231 163866 The Frontier Within WEATHERHEAD BOOKS ON ASIA WEATHERHEAD EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY WEATHERHEAD BOOKS ON ASIA Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University literature David Der-wei Wang, Editor Ye Zhaoyan, Nanjing 1937: A Love Story, translated by Michael Berry (2003) Oda Makato, The Breaking Jewel, translated by Donald Keene (2003) Han Shaogong, A Dictionary of Maqiao, translated by Julia Lovell (2003) Takahashi Takako, Lonely Woman, translated by Maryellen Toman Mori (2004) Chen Ran, A Private Life, translated by John Howard-Gibbon (2004) Eileen Chang, Written on Water, translated by Andrew F. Jones (2004) Writing Women in Modern China: The Revolutionary Years, 1936–1976, edited by Amy D. Dooling (2005) Han Bangqing, The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai, first translated by Eileen Chang, revised and edited by Eva Hung (2005) Loud Sparrows: Contemporary Chinese Short-Shorts, translated and edited by Aili Mu, Julie Chiu, and Howard Goldblatt (2006) Hiratsuka Raicho¯ , In the Beginning, Woman Was the Sun, translated by Teruko Craig (2006) Zhu Wen, I Love Dollars and Other Stories of China, translated by Julia Lovell (2007) Kim Sowo˘l, Azaleas: A Book of Poems, translated by David McCann (2007) (Continued following the index) The Frontier Within Essays by Abe Ko¯bo¯ Abe Ko¯bo¯ EDITED, TRANSLATED, AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RICHARD F. CALICHMAN columbia university press new york Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu Copyright © 2013 Kobo Abe All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Abe, Kobo, 1924–1993. [Works. English. Selection.] The Frontier within : Essays by Abe Kobo. / by Abe Kobo; edited, translated, and with an introduction by Richard F. Calichman. pages cm — (Weatherhead books on Asia) Includes bibliographical references (pages) and index. ISBN 978-0-231-16386-6 (cloth: alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-53509-0 (e-book) I. Calichman, Richard. II. Abe, Kobo, 1924–1993. Shi to Shijin. English. III. Title. PL845. B4A2 2013 895.6945—dc23 2012039752 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. This book is printed on paper with recycled content. Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover design: Noah Arlow References to websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared. contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction ix “Poetry and Poets (Consciousness and the Unconscious)” (Shi to shijin [Ishiki to muishiki]) (1944) 1 “Theory and Practice in Literature” (Bungaku ni okeru riron to jissen) (1954) 18 “The Hand of a Calculator with the Heart of a Beast: What Is Literature?” (Mo¯ju¯ no kokoro ni keisanki no te wo: Bungaku to ha nanika) (1955) 30 “Discovering America” (Amerika hakken) (1957) 47 “Does the Visual Image Destroy the Walls of Language?” (Eizo¯ ha gengo no kabe wo hakai suru ka) (1960) 61 vi Contents “Artistic Revolution: Theory of the Art Movement” (Geijutsu no kakumei: Geijutsu undo¯ no riron) (1960) 66 “Possibilities for Education Today: On the Essence of Human Existence” (Gendai ni okeru kyo¯iku no kano¯sei: Ningen sonzai no honshitsu ni furete) (1965) 79 “Beyond the Neighbor” (Rinjin wo koeru mono) (1966) 88 “The Military Look” (Miritarı¯ rukku) (1968) 102 “Passport of Heresy” (Itan no pasupo¯to) (1968) 111 “The Frontier Within” (Uchi naru henkyo¯) (1968) 124 “The Frontier Within, Part II” (Zoku: Uchi naru henkyo¯) (1969) 149 Notes 173 Glossary 177 Index 185 acknowledgments I am grateful to a number of individuals for helping me secure the copy- right to Abe’s essays: to Carol Gluck, first of all, whose enthusiastic support and timely interventions made this project possible; to Donald Keene, who kindly contacted Abe Neri about the copyright; and finally to Abe Neri her- self, who generously granted the copyright. Particular thanks go to Toba Ko¯ji of Waseda University, whose warm collegiality and thorough knowledge of Abe made him both a friend and an invaluable resource. I am indebted to the two reviewers of the book, who offered incisive comments, and to Jennifer Crewe of Columbia University Press for her ongoing editorial assis- tance. Finally, let me express my deepest gratitude to Hirayama Keiko and Hirayama Yo¯ko, whose patience, support, and hospitality sustained the proj- ect throughout, from Paris to Tokyo. The book is dedicated, with affection, to K. introduction In the English-speaking world, the name Abe Ko¯bo¯ typically evokes images of an existentialist author, one similar to such European writers as Franz Kafka, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Alberto Moravia in his depiction of the themes of alienation and the absurd. Abe appears, as several have remarked, as the most un-Japanese of writers, at least in comparison with such other writ- ers of his stature as not only Mishima Yukio, his near exact contemporary, but also Kawabata Yasunari and Tanizaki Jun’ichiro¯. Clearly this reputation can be attributed in large part to a certain politics of translation, in which “western” readers and translators both actively—if unconsciously—sought out those texts of Japanese literature that appeared most exotic and differ- ent from themselves. With his strange landscapes, abstract allusions, and theoretical meditations, Abe’s fictional texts struck readers (beginning in the mid-1960s, with the appearance of his work in English) as utterly unlike the traditional scenes of cherry blossoms and geisha that they had come to expect from the various translated novels then in circulation. These works provided the background against which Abe’s writings were read and interpreted, with not a little sense of puzzlement. If these novels helped satisfy a certain craving for the exotic and culturally heterogeneous, thereby x Introduction confirming, in ricochet fashion, the sense of western culture as essentially uniform and homogeneous, then Abe’s texts provoked a momentary unset- tling in appearing insufficiently different and rather too close for comfort. This incongruity was soon enough resolved, however, through a notion of influence in which Abe was seen as artistically and intellectually indebted to those western ideas that were then widely visible in avant-garde literature and cinema. Although dissimilar in themes and treatment to much Japa- nese fiction then being read, Abe nevertheless joined his contemporaries in confirming a western sense of dominance implicit in the consumption and evaluation of Asian art. That is to say, whereas the focus on tradition and