"Mine has been a life much shame" (The opening sentence of No Longer Human, 1948).
Osamu Dazai is the pseudonym used by novelist and storyteller Tsushima Shuji. His work often mirrored his troubled life, especially in his novels No Longer Human and The Setting Sun. J. Thomas Riner in Reader’s Guide to Japanese Literature emphasizes that “Dazai's life and work, many Japanese critics have pointed out, are closely intertwined. The more reader knows of Dazai's life, so the argument goes, the more Dazai can and should be admired for finding a literary means to bare his soul" (1999).
Born in 1909 as the tenth of eleven children, Dazai was raised mostly by servants. In addition to being wealthy and brilliant, Dazai was also troubled, attempting suicide twice before the age of twenty.
While studying French literature at the University of Tokyo, Dazai’s interests swung not only to French Symbolism and Surrealism, but also his political views changed to left wing after exposure to Marxism.
Also at the university, Dazai developed an acquaintance with Masuji Ibuse, the man who mentored Dazai’s as a novelist and writer. Having read Ibuse's The Salamander at age fourteen, Dazai stated that "I felt with excitement that I had discovered a hidden, anonymous genius" (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/dazai.htm).
Dazai composes The Setting Sun in an “I-novel”/confessional style of fiction, full of symbolism, conflicts between tradition and modernity as characters struggle with lifestyle, addiction, passive acceptance of women’s role, and symbolism.
In the first three chapters, Dazai uses the symbols of snake eggs, fire, and moonflowers to emphasize themes and motifs. I will expand on these images in my next post.
Osamu Dazai is the pseudonym used by novelist and storyteller Tsushima Shuji. His work often mirrored his troubled life, especially in his novels No Longer Human and The Setting Sun. J. Thomas Riner in Reader’s Guide to Japanese Literature emphasizes that “Dazai's life and work, many Japanese critics have pointed out, are closely intertwined. The more reader knows of Dazai's life, so the argument goes, the more Dazai can and should be admired for finding a literary means to bare his soul" (1999).
Born in 1909 as the tenth of eleven children, Dazai was raised mostly by servants. In addition to being wealthy and brilliant, Dazai was also troubled, attempting suicide twice before the age of twenty.
While studying French literature at the University of Tokyo, Dazai’s interests swung not only to French Symbolism and Surrealism, but also his political views changed to left wing after exposure to Marxism.
Also at the university, Dazai developed an acquaintance with Masuji Ibuse, the man who mentored Dazai’s as a novelist and writer. Having read Ibuse's The Salamander at age fourteen, Dazai stated that "I felt with excitement that I had discovered a hidden, anonymous genius" (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/dazai.htm).
Dazai composes The Setting Sun in an “I-novel”/confessional style of fiction, full of symbolism, conflicts between tradition and modernity as characters struggle with lifestyle, addiction, passive acceptance of women’s role, and symbolism.
In the first three chapters, Dazai uses the symbols of snake eggs, fire, and moonflowers to emphasize themes and motifs. I will expand on these images in my next post.
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