Zaman Meiji, Taisho, Showa

Kesusastraan Jepang #2
Bertha Nursari, M.Hum
 https://www.jlit.net/reference/literary-history/index.html

Modern Period
● The basis for the periodization of modern literature (kindai bungaku) is gradually becoming
problematic as the "modern" period grows ever longer. The most common division is the one
based on the reigns of the emperors who have ruled since 1868: Meiji (1868-1912), Taishō
(1912-1926), Shōwa (1926-1989), Heisei (1989-2019), and Reiwa (from 2019).
● The usefulness of these divisions is mitigated, however, both by the basic political continuity
of the past 130 years and by the failure to take into account the single most traumatic
disruption of that unity, World War II. Literary histories therefore tend to subdivide the
modern era by choosing various historical or cultural events to mark the boundaries of
important literary developments, perhaps attaching an explanatory note to identify the
reason for the division, resulting in a descriptive heading like "The early-to-middle Meiji
period (the creation and development of a modern literature)."
● The situation is further complicated by the recent questioning of "modernization" as a
paradigm for constructing Japan's post-Meiji literary history. The effect all this will
eventually have on literature as it is taught in the schools is by no means clear at this point.
 Periode modern
● Dasar untuk periodisasi sastra modern (kindai bungaku) secara bertahap menjadi bermasalah seiring dengan
semakin panjangnya periode "modern". Pembagian yang paling umum adalah pembagian yang didasarkan pada
masa pemerintahan kaisar yang berkuasa sejak tahun 1868: Meiji (1868-1912), Taisho (1912-1926), Shōwa
(1926-1989), Heisei (1989-2019), dan Reiwa (mulai tahun 2019).
● Akan tetapi, kegunaan dari pembagian ini dikurangi, baik oleh kesinambungan politik dasar selama 130 tahun
terakhir maupun oleh kegagalan untuk memperhitungkan gangguan paling traumatis terhadap persatuan
tersebut, yaitu Perang Dunia II. Oleh karena itu, sejarah sastra cenderung membagi era modern dengan memilih
berbagai peristiwa sejarah atau budaya untuk menandai batas-batas perkembangan sastra yang penting,
mungkin dengan melampirkan catatan penjelasan untuk mengidentifikasi alasan pembagian tersebut, sehingga
menghasilkan judul deskriptif seperti "Periode Meiji awal hingga pertengahan (penciptaan dan perkembangan
sastra modern)."
● Situasi ini semakin diperumit oleh pertanyaan baru-baru ini tentang "modernisasi" sebagai paradigma untuk
membangun sejarah sastra Jepang pasca-Meiji. Efek dari semua ini pada akhirnya akan berdampak pada sastra
yang diajarkan di sekolah-sekolah masih belum jelas pada saat ini.
 https://www.jlit.net/reference/literary-history/index.html

Meiji literature (1868-1912)

● The Meiji period was when Japan, under Western influence, took the first steps
toward developing a modern literature. The major hallmarks up to the time of the
Russo-Japanese War are considered to be Tsubouchi Shōyō's theoretical
study Shōsetsu shinzui (The Essence of the Novel, 1885) because of its advocacy of
psychological realism, and Futabatei Shimei's Ukigumo (Drifting Clouds, 1887), both for
its realistic character portrayal and because the narrative medium is an approximation
of everyday speech.
● Counterpoints are offered by the highly stylized prose of the Ken'yūsha (Friends of
the Inkstone) group centering on Ozaki Kōyō, and the kind of romanticism evident in
the early stories of Mori Ōgai and, especially, the poetry of Kitamura Tōkoku,
Shimazaki Tōson, and Yosano Tekkan.
● The movement known as Japanese Naturalism gained prominence with the publication
of Shimazaki Tōson's novel Hakai (The Broken Commandment, 1906) and Tayama
Katai's short story Futon (The Quilt, 1907). Naturalism predominated on the literary
scene until around 1910, although such authors as Natsume Sōseki, Mori Ōgai, and
Nagai Kafū were not associated with it and might even be considered antagonistic to
it. The humanistic idealism of the Shirakaba (White Birch) writers from the second
decade of the century is taken to mark a turn away from Naturalism and toward a
broader definition of literature.
Sastra Meiji (1868-1912)
● Periode Meiji adalah saat Jepang, di bawah pengaruh Barat, mengambil langkah pertama
untuk mengembangkan sastra modern. Ciri khas utama hingga masa Perang Rusia-Jepang
dianggap sebagai studi teoritis Tsubouchi Shōyō, Shōsetsu shinzui (The Essence of the
Novel, 1885), karena mendukung realisme psikologis, dan Ukigumo (Awan yang Melayang,
1887) karya Futabatei Shimei, karena penggambaran karakter yang realistis dan karena
media naratifnya merupakan perkiraan dari percakapan sehari-hari.
● Hal yang berlawanan ditawarkan oleh prosa yang sangat bergaya dari kelompok Ken'yūsha
(Teman-teman Batu Tinta) yang berpusat pada Ozaki Kōyō, dan jenis romantisme yang
terlihat jelas dalam kisah-kisah awal Mori Ōgai dan, terutama, puisi Kitamura Tōkoku,
Shimazaki Tōson, dan Yosano Tekkan.
● Gerakan yang dikenal sebagai Naturalisme Jepang ini menjadi terkenal dengan
diterbitkannya novel Shimazaki Tōson berjudul Hakai (The Broken Commandment, 1906)
dan cerita pendek Tayama Katai berjudul Futon (The Quilt, 1907). Naturalisme mendominasi
kancah sastra hingga sekitar tahun 1910, meskipun penulis seperti Natsume Sōseki, Mori
Ōgai, dan Nagai Kafū tidak dikaitkan dengan naturalisme dan bahkan mungkin dianggap
antagonis terhadapnya. Idealisme humanis para penulis Shirakaba (White Birch) dari dekade
kedua abad ini dianggap sebagai penanda peralihan dari Naturalisme dan menuju definisi
sastra yang lebih luas.
Tsubouchi Shōyō (坪内 逍遥, May 22,
1859 – February 28, 1935) was
a Japanese
author, critic, playwright, translator, edito
r, educator, and professor at Waseda
University. He has been referred to as a
seminal figure in Japanese drama
● Ukigumo (Japanese: 浮雲,
alit. "Drifting Cloud") is an
1887
Japanese novel by Shimei
Futabatei. Published in three
parts (with the last one in
serialised form) between
June 1887 and August 1889,
it is frequently referred to as
the first modern Japanese
novel
Ozaki's most renowned works are Tajō
Takon (多情多恨, "Tears and Regrets"), serialized in
1896,[3] and Konjiki Yasha (金色夜叉, "The Golden
Demon"), serialized in 1897 in
the Hakubunkan magazine Nihon Taika
Ronshū (日本大家論集, "Japan Expert Treatise
Collection").[4] His works mostly appeared in
the Yomiuri Shimbun, the most popular newspaper in
Japan.
His most notable pupils were Izumi Kyōka, a
romance author who specialized in short stories and
who continued to write in Ozaki's style, the author
Tokuda Shūsei,[5] and Kitada Usurai, his first female
student.[6]
Konjiki Yasha (金色夜叉, "The Golden Demon") was
adapted for film numerous times,[7] including a 1937
version by director Hiroshi Shimizu.[8]
Mori Ōgai (born February 17, 1862,
Tsuwano, Japan—died July 9, 1922,
Tokyo) one of the creators of
modern Japanese literature. Ōgai’s
most popular novel, Gan (1911–13;
part translation: The Wild Goose), is
the story of the undeclared love of a
moneylender’s mistress for a
medical student who passes by her
house each day.
Kitamura Tōkoku (北村 透谷, 29 December
1868 – 16 May 1894) was the pen name of
Kitamura Montarō (北村門太郎), a Japanese
poet and essayist. He was one of the
founders of the modern Japanese romantic
literary movement.
Kitamura self-published the long verse Soshū
no shi ("The Poem of the Prisoner") in 1888,
which was the longest Japanese poem
written in free verse up until that time. He
followed this with the poetic drama Hōrai
kyoku ("The Drama of Mount Hōrai"). He
claimed to be influenced by the works
of Byron, Emerson and Carlyle.
● Tōson Shimazaki (島崎 藤村, Shimazaki Tōson, 25
March 1872 – 22 August 1943) was the pen-name
of Haruki Shimazaki, a Japanese writer active in
the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa periods of
Japan. He began his career as a Romantic poet, but
went on to establish himself as a major proponent
of Japanese Naturalism. The historical novel Before
the Dawn (1929-1935), about the fall of
the Tokugawa shogunate, is his most popular
work.

● The Broken Commandment is a Japanese novel

written by Tōson Shimazaki published in 1906
(late Meiji period) under the title Hakai (破戒). The
novel deals with the burakumin (部落民, 'village
people'), formerly known as eta. This book enjoyed
great popularity and influence in Japan.
● Tekkan Yosano (与謝野 鉄幹 or 與謝野
鐵幹, Yosano Tekkan, 26 February 1873
– 26 March 1935) was the pen-name of
Yosano Hiroshi, a Japanese
author and poet active in
late Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa
period Japan.
● Yosano's own works include Bokoku no
on (Sounds of a Decaying Country,
1894), which despite its title was a
collection of literary criticism, and Tōzai
namboku (East-west, north–south,
1896), an anthology of his poetry,
mostly tanka, but also
several shintaishi and renga.He published
a poetry collection "Kasi no ha"
including the first Gogyōshi collection
"Syōkyoku" in 1910.
● Katai Tayama (田山 花袋 Tayama
Katai, 22 January 1872 – 13 May
1930, born Rokuya Tayama) was
a Japanese author. His most
famous works include Inaka
Kyōshi (田舎教師, "Rural Teacher,"
also translated "Country Teacher")
and Futon (蒲団, also translated
"The Quilt"). He is noted for
establishing the Japanese literary
genre of naturalistic I novels which
revolve around the detailed self-
examinations of an introspective
author
Natsume Sōseki (夏目 漱石, 9 February
1867 – 9 December 1916), pen
name Sōseki, born Natsume
Kin'nosuke (夏目 金之助), was a Japanese
novelist. He is best known for his
novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a
Cat, Kusamakura and his unfinished
work Light and Darkness. He was also a
scholar of British literature and writer
of haiku and kanshi poetry and fairy tales
● Kafū Nagai (永井
荷風, Nagai Kafū, 3
December 1879 – 30 April
1959) was a Japanese
writer, editor and
translator.[1] His works
like Geisha in Rivalry and A
Strange Tale from East of
the River are noted for their
depictions of life of
the demimonde in early
20th-century Tokyo
● The Shirakaba-ha (白樺派, literally "White
Birch Society") was an influential Japanese literary coterie,
which published the literary magazine Shirakaba, from 1910
to 1923.
● Early members included Shiga Naoya (1883-
1971), Mushanokōji Saneatsu (1885-1976), Yanagi
Sōetsu (1889-1961), Satomi Ton (1888-1983), Arishima
Takeo (1878-1923) and Nagayo Yoshirō (1888-1961). Their
literature was typically of the ‘I novel’ genre, and was
concerned with the life of individuals, often incorporating
optimistic philosophy into their work. Some of these
individuals came with wealthy families, and attempted to
emulate Tolstoy in creating utopian agrarian communes in
remote parts of Japan. The self-published monthly literary
journal Shirakaba ("White Birch") was in circulation from April
1910 until 1923. The magazine reached its peak in
popularity in 1918. However, publication was discontinued
after the Great Kantō earthquake
● The I-novel (私小説, Shishōsetsu, Watakushi Shōsetsu) is a literary
genre in Japanese literature used to describe a type of confessional
literature where the events in the story correspond to events in the author's
life.[1] This genre was founded based on the Japanese reception
of naturalism during the Meiji period, and later influenced literature in other Asian
countries as well. This genre of literature reflects greater individuality and a less
constrained method of writing. From its beginnings, the I-novel has been a genre
that also is meant to expose aspects of society or of the author's life

● The first I-novels are believed to be The Broken Commandment, written in 1906
by Tōson Shimazaki, and Futon (The Quilt) written by Katai Tayama in
1907.[3][4] In Futon, the protagonist confesses his affection for a female pupil.
In The Broken Commandment, Shimazaki described a male who was born a
member of a discriminated segment of the population (burakumin), and how he
decided to violate his father's commandment not to reveal his community of
birth.
 https://www.jlit.net/reference/literary-history/index.html

Taishō Literature (1912-1926)

The intellectual aestheticism of Akutagawa Ryūnosuke and decadence

of Tanizaki Jun'ichirō characterize this short period, as do (toward its
end) the introduction of elements of Western literary modernism in
the early work of Yokomitsu Riichi and Kawabata Yasunari, along with
the first stirrings of proletarian literature. The Great Kanto Earthquake
of 1923 is sometimes taken as a major cultural divide in this process.
Sastra Taisho (1912-1926)
• Estetika intelektual Akutagawa Ryūnosuke dan
dekadensi Tanizaki Jun'ichirō mencirikan periode
singkat ini, seperti halnya (menjelang akhir periode ini)
pengenalan elemen-elemen modernisme sastra Barat
pada karya-karya awal Yokomitsu Riichi dan Kawabata
Yasunari, bersama dengan gejolak pertama sastra
proletar. Gempa Bumi Besar Kanto pada tahun 1923
terkadang dianggap sebagai perpecahan budaya utama
dalam proses ini.
● Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (芥川 龍之介, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, 1 March
1892 – 24 July 1927), art name Chōkōdō Shujin (澄江堂主人),[2] was
a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as
the "father of the Japanese short story", and Japan's premier literary
award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him.[3] He took his own life
at the age of 35 through an overdose of barbital

● It was also at this time that Akutagawa started writing haiku under
the haigo (pen name) Gaki. Akutagawa followed with a series of short
stories set in Heian period, Edo period or early Meiji period Japan.
These stories reinterpreted classical works and historical incidents.
Examples of these stories include: Gesaku zanmai ("Absorbed in Letters",
1917)[7] and Kareno-shō ("Gleanings from a Withered Field",
1918), Jigoku hen ("Hell Screen", 1918); Hōkyōnin no shi ("The Death of a
Christian", 1918), and Butōkai ("The Ball", 1920). Akutagawa was a
strong opponent of naturalism. He published Mikan ("Mandarin
Oranges", 1919) and Aki ("Autumn", 1920) which have more modern
settings.
▪
Noteable Works : In a Grove, Rashōmon, Hana
● Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (谷崎 潤一郎, Tanizaki Jun'ichirō,
24 July 1886 – 30 July 1965) was a Japanese author
who is considered to be one of the most prominent
figures in modern Japanese literature.
● The tone and subject matter of his work ranges from
shocking depictions of sexuality and destructive
erotic obsessions to subtle portrayals of the
dynamics of family life within the context of the
rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society.
● Frequently, his stories are narrated in the context of
a search for cultural identity in which constructions
of the West and Japanese tradition are juxtaposed.
● Riichi Yokomitsu (横光 利一, Yokomitsu Riichi, 17 March
1898 – 30 December 1947) was an experimental, modernist
Japanese writer.[1]
● Yokomitsu began publishing in dōjinshi such
as Machi ("Street") and Tō ("Tower") after entering Waseda
University in 1916. In 1923, he published Nichirin ("The
Sun"), Hae ("A Fly") and more in the magazine Bungeishunjū,
which made his name popular. The following year he started
the magazine Bungei-Jidai with Yasunari Kawabata and
others. Yokomitsu and others involved in Bungei-Jidai were
known collectively as the Shinkankakuha, or the New
Sensation School, with a particular interest in sensation and
scientific objectivity.[2]

Notable works •The Sun (日輪, Nichirin, 1923)

•Machine (機械, Kikai, 1930)
•Shanghai (上海, Shanhai, 1931)
 Yasunari Kawabata (川端 康成, Kawabata
Yasunari, 11 June 1899 – 16 April
1972[1]) was a Japanese novelist and short
story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly-
shaded prose works won him the 1968
Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Japanese
author to receive the award

Notable works Snow Country, The Master of Go, The Dancing Girl of
Izu, The Old Capital
Notable awards Nobel Prize in Literature
1968
Shōwa (1926-1989), Heisei (1989-2019), and Reiwa
(2019- ) literature
● Proletarian literature was the chief literary movement of the 1920s, supplemented
by the uniquely Japanese genre of autobiographical fiction known as the "I novel"
(watakushi shōsetsu or shishōsetsu).
● Government suppression of proletarian literature in the 1930s was attended by
the publication of "conversion" (tenkō) novels by writers compelled to renounce
their communist ideals. The subsequent patriotic writings of the war years have
largely been forgotten.
● The end of the war witnessed a resurgent cosmopolitanism that has resulted in a
striking literary diversity and has led to a reassessment of the way in which
tradition and modernity can be said to contribute to the Japanese sense of
identity.
● This process of reevaluation can be seen in the choice of the two postwar
Japanese winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: Kawabata Yasunari (1968),
who titled his acceptance speech "Japan the Beautiful and Myself," and Ōe
Kenzaburō (1994), who in deliberate contrast chose the title "Japan the
Ambiguous and Myself."
https://www.jlit.net/reference/literary-history/index.html
Sastra Shōwa (1926-1989), Heisei (1989-2019), dan
Reiwa (2019- )
• Sastra proletar adalah gerakan sastra utama pada tahun 1920-an, ditambah dengan genre
fiksi otobiografi Jepang yang unik yang dikenal sebagai "novel aku" (watakushi shōsetsu
atau shishōsetsu). Penindasan pemerintah terhadap literatur proletar pada tahun 1930-an
diikuti dengan penerbitan novel-novel "pertobatan" (tenkō) oleh para penulis yang dipaksa
untuk meninggalkan cita-cita komunis mereka. Tulisan-tulisan patriotik berikutnya dari
tahun-tahun perang sebagian besar telah dilupakan.
• Berakhirnya perang menjadi saksi kebangkitan kosmopolitanisme yang menghasilkan
keragaman sastra yang mencolok dan telah mengarah pada penilaian ulang tentang
bagaimana tradisi dan modernitas dapat berkontribusi pada rasa identitas Jepang. Proses
evaluasi ulang ini dapat dilihat pada pilihan dua pemenang Hadiah Nobel Sastra Jepang
pascaperang: Kawabata Yasunari (1968), yang memberi judul pidato penerimaannya
"Jepang yang Indah dan Diriku Sendiri," dan Ōe Kenzaburō (1994), yang secara kontras
memilih judul "Jepang yang Ambigu dan Diriku Sendiri."
Kenzaburō Ōe (大江 健三郎, Ōe Kenzaburō, 31
January 1935 – 3 March 2023) was a Japanese
writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese
literature. His novels, short stories and essays,
strongly influenced by French and American
literature and literary theory, deal with political,
social and philosophical issues, including nuclear
weapons, nuclear power, social non-conformism,
and existentialism. Ōe was awarded the 1994 Nobel
Prize in Literature for creating "an imagined world,
where life and myth condense to form a
disconcerting picture of the human predicament
today"

▪ A Personal Matter (1964)

▪ The Silent Cry (1967)
 https://www.jlit.net/reference/literary-history/index.html

● The situation since the 1980s has been characterized by an ever

increasing diversity, with the "postmodernism" of Murakami
Haruki often being one of the last topics mentioned in recent
general surveys.
● This means, in other words, that "accepted" literary history has
not really caught up with developments since the late Shōwa
period. But any future account of Heisei -- and now Reiwa --
literature will surely have to take note not only of growing
categorical fragmentation and diversity but also of the profusion
of visually oriented and non-print media (manga, anime,
streaming, gaming) that is currently working to reshape the very
definition of "literature."
● Situasi sejak tahun 1980-an telah ditandai dengan keragaman yang
semakin meningkat, dengan "postmodernisme" Murakami Haruki
sering menjadi salah satu topik terakhir yang disebutkan dalam survei
umum baru-baru ini. Dengan kata lain, ini berarti bahwa sejarah sastra
yang "diterima" belum benar-benar mengikuti perkembangan sejak
akhir periode Shōwa. Namun, setiap catatan masa depan tentang
sastra Heisei - dan sekarang Reiwa - pasti harus memperhatikan tidak
hanya fragmentasi dan keragaman kategoris yang berkembang, tetapi
juga banyaknya media yang berorientasi visual dan media noncetak
(manga, anime, streaming, game) yang saat ini sedang bekerja untuk
membentuk kembali definisi "sastra".
● Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of
discourse[1][2] characterized by skepticism towards elements of
the Enlightenment worldview. It questions the "grand
narratives" of modernity, rejects the certainty of knowledge
and stable meaning, and acknowledges the influence
of ideology in maintaining political power.[3][4] The idea of
objective claims is dismissed as naïve realism,[5] emphasizing
the conditional nature of knowledge.[4] Postmodernism
embraces self-referentiality, epistemological relativism, moral
relativism, pluralism, irony, irreverence, and eclecticism.[4] It
opposes the "universal validity" of binary oppositions,
stable identity, hierarchy, and categorization
tiga konsepsi tentang postmodern
Pertama, pemikiran yang hendak merevisi kemodernan dan cenderung kembali ke pra-modern. Corak
pemikiran yang mistikomitis dan semboyan khas pemikiran ini adalah holisme.

Kedua, pemikiran yang erat pada dunia sastra dan banyak pada persoalan linguistik. Kata kunci yang
popular adalah dekonstruksi, yaitu Kecenderungan untuk mengatasi gambaran-gambaran dunia
modern melalui gagasan anti gambaran dunia sama sekali. Semangat membongkar segala unsur yang
penting dalam sebuah gambaran dunia, seperti diri, tuhan, tujuan, dunia nyata dan lain-lain. Tokoh
yang berperan dalam teori-teori tersebut adalah J. F. Lyotard, M. Foucauld, Jean Baudrillard, Jacques
derrida.

Ketiga, pemikiranyang hendak merevisi modernisme, tidak dengan menolak modernisme secara total,
namun dengan memperbaharuinya premis-premis modern disana-sini saja. Singkat kata, kritik
terhadap imanen terhadap modernisme dalam rangka mengatasi berbagai konsekuensi negatifnya
Haruki Murakami (村上 春樹, Murakami Haruki, born
January 12, 1949[1]) is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays,
and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and
internationally, with his work translated into 50
languages[2] and having sold millions of copies outside
Japan.[3][4] He has received numerous awards for his work,
including the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the World
Fantasy Award, the Frank O'Connor International Short
Story Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Jerusalem Prize and
the Princess of Asturias Awards
Literary movement •Surrealism
•magical realism
•postmodernism
•realism
Notable works •Norwegian Wood (1987)
•The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994–95)
•Kafka on the Shore (2002)
•1Q84 (2010)
•Men Without Women (2014)