Mokusei!
Mokusei! (Original title: Mokusei! Eeniehesverhaal ) is a short story by Cees Nooteboom . It was first published in 1982 in Dutch and in 1990 in a German translation by Helga van Beuningen by Suhrkamp-Verlag .
content
The Dutch photographer Arnold Pessers, a man around thirty, is in Tokyo on an assignment. He is torn between the glorified, sublime Japan and an unaesthetic Japan that uncritically imitates the West. For Pessers traditional Japan is an inapproachable country, for him it is also different in a different way than many non-European countries are. Examples of this include the musical training of the samurai, the philosophy of Mono No Aware or calligraphy.
Since Arnold Pessers was commissioned to photograph a Japanese woman, he evaluates the photos of several models, which, however, are not Japanese enough for him. Arnold Pessers then has a photo session with an ideal model in a tea house near Mount Fuji. He calls them first snow mask , a little later Mokusei . This name goes back to the type of flower of the same name , which is some of the few Japanese flowers that give off a fragrance.
A love relationship develops between Mokusei and Arnold Pessers, which is, however, strained by the fact that Mokusei does not want to go to Europe and also wants children. In the end, Arnold recognizes his own impermanence in Mokusei.
criticism
“The strangeness of two different cultures and our European idea of a Japan that doesn't exist like that. As paradoxical as this sounds, Arnold has to learn painfully that the real Japan takes away his joy in Japan. And even after reading, only a feeling of emptiness remains, as if this relationship between Arnold and Mokusei were basically a dream that quickly fades, becomes intangible. "
literature
- Cees Nooteboom: Mokusei! A Lovestory. From the Dutch by Helga van Beuningen. Suhrkamp, 1993, ISBN 3-518-38709-X