Yokomitsu Riichi

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Yokomitsu Riichi ( Japanese 横 光 利 一 , civilly read Yokomitsu Toshikazu ; born March 17, 1898 in Higashiyama Onsen , Aizu-Wakamatsu ; died December 30, 1947 in Tokyo ) was a Japanese writer.

Live and act

Yokomitsu Riichi attended Waseda University . Around the year 1920 or 1921 he wrote the short story "Preis der Grurigkeit" (悲 し み の 代 価, Kanashimi no daika), which was only published posthumously in 1955. Another small early work is “Die Sonne” (日 輪, Nichirin) from 1923.

In 1924, Yokomitsu and other young writers, such as Kataoka Teppei and Kawabata Yasunari , formed the group "School of New Sensitivities" (新 感 覚, Shinkankaku school). Yokomitsu became their ideological spokesman, and it was his writing style - highly polished and with careful design of rhythm and symbolism, strong imagery - that became the Shinkaku style. Many of Yokomitsu's early works are autobiographical. The most famous story of this time is "Spring, ride in a horse-drawn carriage" (春 は 馬車 に 乗 っ て, Haru ha basha ni notte) from 1926. Although not very long, this story ranks among the best in modern Japanese literature.

Many of the purely fictional stories of this time are satirical attacks on the Marxist idea of ​​a predetermined economic development. Two examples are “silent enumeration” (静 か な る 羅列, Shizuka naru raretsu; 1925) and “Napoleon and the mushroom lichen” (ナ ポ レ オ ン と 田 虫, Naporeon to tamushi; 1926). A full-length novella was "Shanghai", 1928-1931.

After “Shanghai” began to experiment with a completely different style. These include the widely discussed short stories “The Machine” (機械, Kikai; 1930) and “Time” (時間, Jikan; 1931). This atypical style of Yokomitsu was seen as his attempt to create streams of consciousness. In other words, they resemble psychologically designed monologues, as they appear in some of Dostoevsky's characters.

At the same time, Yokomitsu had already started "The Imperial Mausoleum" (神 苑, Shin'en; 1930 to 1932). Most of his stories were now written in plain prose. "Family coat of arms" (紋章, Monshō) appeared in 1934, in 1940 a sequel appeared.

In 1935 Yokomitsu published the essay “Theory of the Pure Novel” (純 粋 小説 の 論, Junsui shōsetsu no ron), in which it stated that if one wanted to create “pure short stories” for the Japanese reader, it had to be both pure and popular . This led to a major controversy in the literary world of Japan, in which a strict separation was maintained between pure and popular literature.

In 1936 Yokomitsu traveled to Europe. He published his six-month journey in 1936 as “Report on Europe” (欧 州 紀行; Ōshū kikō), but even more important was the novel “Sad Journey” (旅 愁, Ryoshū), on which he worked from 1937 to 1946 without completing it.

After World War II , Yokomitsu completed two works, “Shoes in the Night” (夜 の 靴, Yoru no kutsu; 1947) and “Quiet Smile” (微笑, Bishō). The latter appeared posthumously in 1948.

Works (selection)

  • 1924 Atama narabi ni hara ( 頭 な ら び に 腹 )
    • German head and stomach. Translated by Asa-Bettina Wuthenow, in: Hefte für Ostasiatische Literatur, No. 30 (May 2001), pp. 45–53.
  • 1930 Kikai ( 機械 )
    • German mechanisms. Translated by Jürgen Berndt, in: Dreams from ten nights, Zurich: Theseus, 1992
  • 1936 Sono ( )
    • dt. The garden. Translated by Kazuhiko Sano, in: Nippon 7, Tokyo 1936
  • 1939 Aki ( )
    • dt. autumn. Translated by Oscar Benl , in: A bell in Fukugawa, Tübingen 1969

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