Anachronistic Selves: Personal Ambiguity in Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro
Balete Candice Lauren Garcia
22 April, 2013
Anachronistic Selves: Personal Ambiguity in Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro
There are many ambiguous issues that are engendered in Kokoro, but this essay will specifically focus on Emperor’s Meiji’s death and the personal ambiguity that the novel’s characters experience as a result. This essay argues that the ambiguity surrounding Sensei, K, and General Nogi’s suicides is not arbitrary. In fact, the ambiguity of ritual suicide in this text is historically linked to the instability aroused not only by the fall of the Meiji era, but also by the implicit tension between the modern and traditional ways of living in Japan at that time. The tension between the modern and the traditional can be implicitly mapped to the geographical spaces of the city and the countryside, respectively. Both the narrator and Sensei, who are described to traverse between both of the aforementioned areas, seem to be the characters that experience the most internal conflict and ambiguity. The characters live in an age of transition, which renders those of an older generation (like Sensei) as anachronisms, and situates the younger generation (like the narrator) within an epistemological impasse in understanding the past. Instead of providing answers, the progression of the text’s narrative poses more questions that arouse ambiguity—Sensei’s actions become increasingly perceived as strange as the novel progresses. However, while most of the novel’s ambiguities stem from the character’s self-consciousness of their own anachronistic statuses, the lack of resolution with regard to personal issues like Sensei’s love triangle and the narrator’s relationship with his father, also contribute to the overall sense of ambiguity in the novel.
Despite its status as a work of fiction, Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro is situated within the historical timeline of Emperor Meiji’s death. Emperor Meiji’s death marks the end of the Meiji era in Japan. The personal is rendered
22 April, 2013
Anachronistic Selves: Personal Ambiguity in Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro
There are many ambiguous issues that are engendered in Kokoro, but this essay will specifically focus on Emperor’s Meiji’s death and the personal ambiguity that the novel’s characters experience as a result. This essay argues that the ambiguity surrounding Sensei, K, and General Nogi’s suicides is not arbitrary. In fact, the ambiguity of ritual suicide in this text is historically linked to the instability aroused not only by the fall of the Meiji era, but also by the implicit tension between the modern and traditional ways of living in Japan at that time. The tension between the modern and the traditional can be implicitly mapped to the geographical spaces of the city and the countryside, respectively. Both the narrator and Sensei, who are described to traverse between both of the aforementioned areas, seem to be the characters that experience the most internal conflict and ambiguity. The characters live in an age of transition, which renders those of an older generation (like Sensei) as anachronisms, and situates the younger generation (like the narrator) within an epistemological impasse in understanding the past. Instead of providing answers, the progression of the text’s narrative poses more questions that arouse ambiguity—Sensei’s actions become increasingly perceived as strange as the novel progresses. However, while most of the novel’s ambiguities stem from the character’s self-consciousness of their own anachronistic statuses, the lack of resolution with regard to personal issues like Sensei’s love triangle and the narrator’s relationship with his father, also contribute to the overall sense of ambiguity in the novel.
Despite its status as a work of fiction, Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro is situated within the historical timeline of Emperor Meiji’s death. Emperor Meiji’s death marks the end of the Meiji era in Japan. The personal is rendered