Snow Country (The Only Global Graphic Treasure Edition)

Author: Kawabata Yasunari
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: From Snow Country to The Thousand Cranes and Koto, the publication of these works demonstrated that Kawabata was contemplating the issues of tradition and modernity, as well as local and foreign influences at a higher theoretical level. He summarized the experience and lessons of absorbing and assimilating Chinese Tang Dynasty culture a thousand years ago to create the beauty of the Heian Court, as well as the historical experience of absorbing Western culture over the past century but failing to fully digest it. Combining his own creative practices, he proposed that one should "adopt a Japanese approach to absorption from the very beginning, learning according to Japanese tastes and then fully Japaneseizing it." In practice, he melted Western literary influences into the spirit and form of Japanese classical tradition, more consciously establishing his position as a "common thinker" bridging Eastern and Western cultures. Snow Country (1935–1937) depicts the emotional entanglements between a wealthy and leisurely dance researcher, Shimamura, and an actress as well as a pure-hearted young woman. It portrays the physical and spiritual purity and beauty of lower-class women, as well as the author's profound sense of nihilism, presenting a world of melancholy and elegance. In Kawabata's masterpieces, Snow Country particularly excellently showcases his typical works based on lyrical techniques. As the leaves and Komako grow more passionate in their flames, the readers' inscrutable enthusiasm increases, the futility becomes greater, and the radiance of beauty bursts forth, much like the snow in Snow Country reflecting their beauty. With his exceptional sensitivity and novelistic techniques, Kawabata captures the essence of the Japanese soul.