Sleeping Beauty

Author: (Japanese) Yasunari Kawabata
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: The ocean embraces all, and inclusiveness is great. Only by standing on the cultural traditions of one's own country and integrating excellent foreign cultures can a writer achieve brilliance in literature. Yasunari Kawabata achieved his success and gained global recognition precisely on this point. At the award ceremony for the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee, André Osterling, said in his speech: "Mr. Kawabata was clearly influenced by European modern realism, but Mr. Kawabata also clearly demonstrated his faithful adherence to classical Japanese literature, maintaining and inheriting the pure Japanese literary tradition." In works like Sleeping Beauty and The Arm, while exploring the theme of "the main melody and variations of life" between the aesthetic humanism and the nihilistic value, they reveal the normalcy and abnormality of human emotions, as well as the complexity of how these emotions adapt to the evolution of human nature. Yet, this near-flirtatiousness or even decadence is also woven into the refined and (wabi-sabi) cultural network of Japan. The symbolic meaning of this charm must be felt with the heart, reaching the state of "deep sorrow in the heart." The success of Kawabata's creative practice is mainly reflected in the following three integrations: the fusion of modern consciousness and traditional cultural spirit, the integration of psychological portrayal and natural description, and the fusion of stream-of-consciousness leaps with traditional craftsmanship. Some of Kawabata's novels actively absorb the humanistic and humanitarian spirit of modern Western thought, portraying the intellect and sensibility of modern people, while employing techniques to delve into the depths of the psyche. They integrate and harmonize the spiritualism of Japan and the East, paying attention to revealing the national cultural psychological qualities. Sleeping Beauty explores the theme of "the elderly unaware of their own ugliness." Sometimes, it uses the lens of abstinence to criticize others for commenting that Kawabata's portrayal of female beauty is "obsessive," while at other times, it employs the lens of indulgence to promote Kawabata's lyrical depiction of female bodies—actually, Kawabata did not write about female bodies, thereby criticizing the self-trapping and inescapable nature of this paradox. This book includes works such as Mountain Sounds, The Spring Bells, In the Rain, Autumn Fish, The Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Arm, Dreams of an Island, and Snake Eggs.