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Kobo Abe and The Woman in the Dunes

Page history last edited by cdaniels@... 13 years, 1 month ago

 Kobo Abe

 

- born in Tokyo, but moved to Mukden (Japan-occupied Manchuria) in 1925.

 

- Father was a doctor

 

- Abe, as a child, quite interested in mathematics and insect collecting

 

- Abe moved to Japan in 1941 to attend Tokyo University for medicine

 

- During WWII, Abe was excused from service for respiratory illness (which he forged), and moved back to Manchuria

     - the next year, his father was killed by an epidemic

 

- After the war, he returned to Japan and sold charcoal and vegetables to make ends meet

 

- After graduating, he moved back to Tokyo and joined a literary group that wanted to fuse Marxism with Surrealism

 

- his works resemble Kafka in style and content, but he also borrows from science fiction and Detective stories

 

- Plot and character are usually subservient to symbol

 

 

 

 

 

"I think that a characteristic of modern literature is this uneasiness regarding human existence which has been superimposed on a desire for new human relationships. That is to say, there is an uneasiness as to whether the quest for new relationships is meaningful or whether human relationships are worth seeking out at all...Thus we communicate the theme that we are unable to communicate with each other. We terminate our communication. And that’s self-contradictory."

     --- Kobo Abe

 

"He further questioned “the significance of belonging to a nation, be it Japan or any nation, or belonging to any society.” Although some of Abe’s imagery recalls Japanese mythology and folklore, his novels could be set in any city and inhabited by any people struggling with the loneliness and alienation such cities create in their residents. Like his existentialist forebears, Abe deliberately foils the traditional narrative process in the service of communicating that alienation."

 

    -- Quote from a paper by Michaela Gray

 

 

 

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The Woman in the Dunes

 

- Niki Junpei

     - Why is he there?

     - How would you describe The Man?  What is his philosophical stance?

     - What emotions does he go through once he begins to be aware of his situation?

     - Do you feel sorry for him?  Why or why not?

 

The Opening Quote

 

The Police Report (page 5+6)

  • Why is he pronounced dead?
  • Why do we keep reading even though we know the ending? 

 

Why does our protagonist want to go to this village in the first place?

(10)

 

Why give such a long and boring lecture on sand?

(13)

 

How is his situation (i.e. the situation of the people in the village holes) described?

(38)  

 

"This entire nightmare could not be happening."  Really?

(51)

 

First Escape Attempt - Dig! (67)

  • Why doesn't it work?
  • Why can't he imagine that this barbarism exists?

 

What does he imagine his coworkers to be doing about his absence?

  • What is his attitude toward teachers? Do you agree?(80)

 

"If there was no scenery to look at, it was only natural to want to see pictures of scenery at least" (83)

  • A natural reaction to urban life

 

Second Attempt

  • How does he go about reasoning this plan out?

 

The newspaper (page 93)

  • why does he request one?
  • What happens once he receives it?

 

Existentialism

  • arbitrary nature of social system
  • the resulting meaninglessness of existence once the set of established social values are dispatched
  • inherent isolation of the individual

 

"Existentialism requires the active acceptance of our nature. Professor Robert Olson noted that we spend our lives wanting more and more. Once we realize the futility of wordly desire, we try to accept what we have. We turn to philosophy or religion to accept less. We want to detach from our worldly needs — but we cannot do so. It is the human condition to desire. To want. To seek more, even when that “more” is “more of less.” It is a desire to prove something to ourselves, as well as others."

 

The Note

  • Shouldn't someone be looking for him?

    (96) 

 

Insect Collecting

  • seeking to understand the rules governbing social behavior
  • seeking to understand the rules of existence itself
  • insects have a rigid social hierarchy: bees, ants, etc...that is genetically coded and unbending (no existential crises) 

 

The Existential Crisis #2: Men and Women (136)

 

  • The Mobius Strip
  • Spiritual Rape?
  • Is it really that difficult?

 

One Way Ticket Blues (161)

  • What is the difference between the one way ticket and the round trip ticket?
  • Why does the round trip ticket holder want to drown out the cries for help from the one wayers?

 

The Escape Plan (165) 

 

His escape as a meditation on this existence (175)

  • Why do these people submit to this kind of slavery?   
  • What is his escape plan?
  • Why doesn't he succeed? 

 

Hope

  • Why does he laugh at the dumb comic?  How does that relate to the inscription at the front of the book? (216)

 

Life After the Failed Escape  

  • Why do some people have rope ladders leading down into their holes? (228)
  • Why does he consider the trade the villagers offer him? (229) 
  • why doesn't he escape at the end? What will happen?

 

 

 


 

Outside Links

 

The Box Man Movie

 

Documentary (Japanese)

 

Existential Primer

 

Mobius Strip

 

The Box Man

 

 

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