Kawabata Yasunari

Kawabata (1938)

Memorial stone to Kawabata's birthplace

Kawabata Yasunari ( Japanese 川端 康 成 , Kawabata Yasunari ; born June 11, 1899 in Osaka , † April 16, 1972 in Zushi by suicide ) was a Japanese writer and the 1968 Nobel Prize winner for literature .

The Kawabata Memorial Foundation ( 川端康成 記念 会 , Kawabata-Yasunari-Kinenkai ) has been awarding the Kawabata-Yasunari Literature Prize from the prize money since 1974 .

Life

Kawabata was orphaned when he was two years old and soon lost his grandparents and a sister. His early childhood was marked by deep loneliness. He kept a diary since his grandfather's death in 1914. In the same year he had to continue school in a boarding school. In 1916 he began writing for magazines. As a student at the University of Tokyo , he founded the neo-impressionist journal Bungei Jidai ( The Age of Art ) together with Yokomitsu Riichi . In 1926/27 he published his first novella, the masterpiece Izu no odoriko , many of which were made into films. 1948-1965 he was President of the Japanese PEN Club, since 1953 President of the Japanese Academy. In 1961 he was awarded the Order of Culture , in 1968 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature “for his storytelling, which expresses the Japanese character and character with a fine feeling”.

Kawabata Yasunari (1932)

Portrait and honors

• 1959: Goethe plaque from the city of Frankfurt am Main
• 1968: Nobel Prize for Literature (first Japanese author and second Asian after Rabindranath Tagore )
• 1969: Silver-plated bronze medal, 80 mm: Medalist: Louis-Robert Muller (* 1941 in Saint-Avold)
• 1969: Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters

Works

Kawabata's first work was Izu no odoriko ( The Dancer of Izu ) in 1926 . His novella Yukiguni ( Snow Land , 1937) tells the story of a love affair between a Tokyo businessman and a geisha in a remote onsen town . The connection between the geisha, Komako, and the male protagonist, Shimamura, a wealthy idler and esthete, is doomed to fail, however. Yukiguni became a classic shortly after its publication and established Kawabata as one of the leading Japanese writers. In Senbazuru (Thousand Cranes) he continued some of the themes from this work. In Meijin (English The Master of Go , translated by Edward G. Seidensticker , German meijin , translated by Felix Heisel) from 1954 he describes the game of the last Hon'inbō Shūsai against the young Minoru Kitani . For Yama no oto (A Cherry Tree in Winter) he received the Noma Literature Prize in 1954 .

Typical of Kawabata's work is the fragmentary way his novels are published, often initially in the form of sketches in various magazines. Only after various revisions did these fragments appear in one volume. Kawabata's language shows the highest level of sensitivity, high intuition and great originality. Dialogues often fall silent after hints, sequences of images are composed musically, as it were. The sadness of people when they are not involved, detailed erotic scenes, female beauty, the magic of old Japanese traditions and myths and above all the paradox of the passive actor characterize his work, which is considered difficult to translate.

Novels

Kawabata with his wife Hideko ( 秀 子 ) (left) and his younger sister Kimiko ( 君子 ) (right) in 1930

Kawabata at work in his home in Hase, Kamakura, 1946

• The dancer from Izu (伊豆 の 踊 子 , izu no odoriko , 1926), translated by Oscar Benl (an earlier version of the translation appeared in 1942 as The little dancer from Izu (compatriot, Berlin)), in: Kawabata Yasunari, Selected Works (contains also Tausend Kraniche , Schneeland and Kyoto , one-time special edition for Kawabata's 70th birthday), Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1968; Paperback edition: Reclam, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-15-008365-6 .
• Die Rote Gang von Asakusa ( 浅 草 紅 團 , asakusa kurenaidan , 1929/1930), translated by Richmod Bollinger with the collaboration of Yoriko Yamada-Bochynek, Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-458-16969-5 .
• Schneeland ( 雪 国 , yukiguni , 1937/1947), translated by Oscar Benl, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1957, paperback edition: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-423-10706-5 . Second translation by Tobias Cheung, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-518-22376-3 .
• meijin (名人 , meijin , 1942/1954), translated from English by Felix Heisel, Brett and Stein Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2015, ISBN 978-3-940563-22-4 .
• Tausend Kraniche ( 千 羽 鶴 , senbazuru , 1949/1951), translated by Sachiko Yatsushiro and reviewed by Robert Schinzinger , with drawings by Kaii Higashiyama , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1956; Paperback edition: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-423-11080-5 .
• A cherry tree in winter ( 山 の 音 , yama no oto , 1949/1954), translated by Siegfried Schaarschmidt and Misako Kure, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1969, ISBN 3-423-11297-2 ; Paperback edition: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1999 ISBN 3-423-11297-2 .
• The sleeping beauties ( 眠 れ る 美女 , nemureru bijo , 1960/1961), translated by Siegfried Schaarschmidt, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 3-518-22165-5 .
• Beauty and Mourning ( 美 し さ と 悲 し み と , utsukushisa to kanashimi to , 1961/1963), translated by Heinz Haase, Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-353-00222-7 .
• Kyoto or The Young Lovers in the Old Imperial City ( 古都 , koto , 1962), translated by Walter Donat in collaboration with Yuzuru Kawai, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1965, paperback edition: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-423-12297- 8 .

Palm stories, narratives

• Palm Stories , contains 33 "palm Stories" ( 掌篇小説 , shosetsu shōhen even 掌の小説 , Tenohira no shosetsu or Tanagokoro no shosetsu ) from 1923 to 1950 translated by Siegfried Schaarschmidt, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-446 -15260-1 .
• The blind man and the girl. New Palm Stories , contains a further 19 Palm Stories, translated by Siegfried Schaarschmidt (18) and Otto Putz (1), Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-446-19694-3 .
• Diary of a sixteen year old , contains 3 stories ( your second marriage ( 再婚 者 , saikonsha , 1948/1952), the dancers ( 舞 姫 , maihime , 1950/1951), diary of a sixteen year old ( 十六 歳 の 日記 , jūrokusai no nikki , 1927; first appeared in 1925 under the title 十七 歳 の 日記 , jūnanasai no nikki , 'Diary of a Seventeen-year-old')) and 2 palm stories ( The story with the straw hat ( 帽子 事件 , bōshi jiken , 1926), pre- winter ( 冬 近 し , fuyu chikashi , 1926)), translated by Oscar Benl, Nymphenburger Verlagshandlung, Munich 1969, ISBN 3-499-11428-3 .
• Dreams in the crystal , contains 5 stories ( dreams in the crystal ( 水晶 幻想 , suishō gensō , 1931), the shadow of the older sister ( 夢 の 姉 , yume no ane , 1933), an arm ( 片 腕 , kata-ude , 1963/1964 ), The mark on the shoulder ( ほ く ろ の 手紙 , hokuro no tegami , 1940), Of birds and animals ( 禽 獣 , kinjū , 1933)), translated by Siegfried Schaarschmidt, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1974, ISBN 3-518- 01383-1 (licensed edition by Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1973).
• Three stories , contains 3 stories ( Speechless ( 無言 , mugon , 1953), A girl with a scent ( 匂 ふ 娘 , niou musume , 1960), What her husband never did ( 夫 の し な い , otto no shinai , 1958)); Translated by Barbara Yoshida-Krafft, iudicium Verlag, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-89129-083-7 .
• Four stories , contains 4 stories in the palm of the hand ( mother ( 母 , haha , 1924), the hair ( 髪 , kami , 1924), the Korean ( 朝鮮 人 , chōsenjin , 1925), the son's point of view ( 子 の 立場 , ko no tachiba , 1926)); Translated by Bettina Post-Kobayashi and Asa-Bettina Wuthenow, in: Hefte für Ostasiatische Literatur , No. 54, May 2013, pp. 79–87, iudicium Verlag, Munich 2013, ISSN  0933-8721 .

Literary works in collective editions

• The first snow on Mount Fuji ( 富士 の 初雪 , fuji no hatsuyuki , 1952), translated by Oscar Benl. In: Oscar Benl (ed.): The cherry blossom branch. Japanese love stories from a thousand years . Nymphenburger Verlagshandlung, Munich 1965, ISBN 3-485-00422-7 .
• Moon on water ( 水月 , suigetsu , 1953), translated by Annelotte Piper. In: A bell in Fukagawa. Japan in stories by its best contemporary authors , selection and editing Oscar Benl, Horst Erdmann Verlag, Herrenalb / Black Forest 1964
• Alte Heimat ( 故 郷 , kokyō , 1955), translated by Barbara Yamanaka-Hiller. In: Eduard Klopfenstein (Hrsg.): Mondscheintropfen. Japanese stories 1940–1990 , Theseus, Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-85936-061-2 .

Essays, other works

• On the existence and discovery of beauty ( 美 の 存在 と 発 見 , bi no sonzai to hakken , 1969), translated by the Kawabata study group of the East Asian Seminar of the University of Zurich, in: Asian Studies, Journal of the Swiss Society for Asian Studies, volume 29, No. 1 (1975), pp. 2-38, ISSN  0004-4717
• In the glow of the oil lamp ( 行 灯 , andon , 1964), translated by Barbara Yoshida-Krafft. In: Barbara Yoshida-Krafft (ed.): Flowers in the wind. Essays and sketches of the Japanese present , Edition Erdmann, Tübingen 1981, ISBN 3-88639-506-5 .

Publications containing literary works by Kawabata

• Cornelius Ouwehand, Some remarks on “palm” narratives by Yasunari Kawabata , in: Asian Studies, Journal of the Swiss Society for Asian Studies, Volume 29, Issue 1 (1975), pp. 89–120, ISSN  0004-4717 ; includes the palm stories nails in the morning ( 朝 の 爪 , asa no tsume , 1969), you who approached the fire ( 火 に 行 く 彼女 , hi ni yuku kanojo , 1924) and collecting bones ( 骨 拾 い , kotsu hiroi , 1949) as well the prose poem The Mosquito Net ( 蚊帳 , kaya , 1930)
• Viktoria Eschbach-Szabo, Temporality in Japanese , Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1986, ISBN 3-447-02621-9 ; contains a set literal translation of palm history Fragile dishes ( 弱き器 , yowaki Utsuwa hereof, 1924) as well as linguistic analysis and text pieces from Thousand Cranes and Dancer of Izu
• Siegfried Schaarschmidt and Michiko Mae (eds.), Japanese contemporary literature , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-446-15929-0 ; contains the sketch My Face ( 私 の 顔 , watakushi no kao , 1929), translated by Siegfried Schaarschmidt

Secondary literature

• Herbert G. Göpfert : With Kawabata in Munich - A chat from the workshop , in Frankfurter Rundschau, November 2, 1968, p. IV; Reprinted in: Hefte für East Asian Literature, No. 65, November 2018, pp. 90–93, iudicium Verlag, Munich 2018
• Claus M. Fischer: The association in Yasunari Kawabata's work Yama no oto, in: News of the Society for Nature and Ethnology of East Asia , ISSN  0016-9080 , year 1972, issue 112, pp. 15-39
• Barbara Yoshida-Krafft: Kawabata Yasunari - a traditionalist? , in: Jubilee Volume 1873–1973 , Volume 53 of the communications of the German Society for Natural and Ethnological Studies of East Asia, Tokyo 1973, pp. 171–187; refers u. a. in Yukiguni , Senbazuru , Yama no oto , Koto , Mizuumi , Andon
• Eduard Klopfenstein: Kawabatas Schneeland - An interpretation , in: Asiatic studies. Journal of the Swiss Society for Asian Studies, Volume 29, Issue 1 (1975), pp. 39-88
• Cornelius Ouwehand: Some remarks on the "palm" narratives of Yasunari Kawabata , in: Asiatic studies. Journal of the Swiss Society for Asian Studies, Volume 29, Issue 1 (1975), pp. 89–120.
• Mariann Lewinsky: A crazy side - silent film and cinematic avant-garde in Japan , Zürcher Filmstudien 2, Chronos Verlag, Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-905311-60-7 ; contains u. a. Translations of Kawabata's script for the film Eine Verrückte Seite ( 狂 っ た 一頁 , Kurutta Ippēji , 1926, directed by Kinugasa Teinosuke ), of diary entries for the shooting and of the palm story The Man Who Did n't Laugh ( 笑 は ぬ 男 , warawanu otoko , 1929)
• Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit , Richmod Bollinger: Literature as an instrument for overcoming cultural unfamiliarity - text strategies using the example of Kawabata Yasunari's 'Asakusa kurenaidan' (PDF), in: The challenge of the foreign , edited by Herfried Münkler with the assistance of Karin Meßlinger and Bernd Ladwig , Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-05-003271-5 , pp. 611-700
• Birgit Griesecke: Intimate experiments. Out and about in Japanese sleep laboratories with Ariyoshi, Tanizaki and Kawabata (PDF), in: Nachrichten der Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens , Volume 2005, Issue 177–178, pp. 7–36; contains notes on The Sleeping Beauties
• Wiebke Arndt: The narrator in Kawabata's “Mizuumi” . Master's thesis at the University of Göttingen
• Jennifer Evelyn Staab: Kawabata Yasunari's Palm Stories - Scenes from Dreams and Reality , Bachelor thesis at the University of Heidelberg, July 2007; Contains a translation of the palm story Der Billardtisch ( 玉 臺 , tamadai , 1925) and analyzes of this and the palm story The Sound of Human Steps ( 人間 の 足 音 , ningen no ashioto , 1925; German by Siegfried Schaarschmidt, 1990)
• Mechthild Duppel-Takayama: The "flow of associations" in the narrative by Kawabata Yasunari (1899–1972) , Tectum Verlag, Marburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-8288-3901-4 ; deals with "Yukiguni", "Yama no oto" and "Mizuumi"
• Thomas Hagemann: Kawabata in Munich - From the pre-history to the Nobel Prize award of 1968 , in: Booklets for East Asian Literature, No. 65, November 2018, pp. 84–125, iudicium Verlag, Munich 2018; contains translations of the essays Europa ( ヨ オ ロ ツ パ , yōroppa , 1957) and Munich ( ミ ユ ン ヘ ン , myunhen , 1967)

Web links

Commons : Kawabata Yasunari  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Kawabata Yasunari in the catalog of the German National Library
• Information from the Nobel Foundation on the 1968 award ceremony for Kawabata Yasunari (English)
• Hanami Web - Kawabata Yasunari
• Yasunari Kawabata Spanish

annotation

1. ^ According to the entry in the family register, he was born on June 14, 1899

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Nobel Prize in Literature 1968. Retrieved December 1, 2018 (American English). 
2. ↑ Honorary Members: Yasunari Kawabata. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed March 12, 2019 . 
3. ↑ When the kettle sings . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed December 22, 2018]).
4. ↑ Bunkichi Fusimori: life work of Yasunari Kawabata , in: Yasunari Kawabata: Dancer of Izu, Thousand Cranes and other selected works , Zurich undated, pp 23-33..

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Kawabata is the family name, Yasunari the first name.