The "description" in novel is in a sense the biggest import in the history of symbolic techniques in modern Japanese literature. It can be assumed that most of the problems of modern novels emerged in relation to the qualitative changes in "description." Especially, the paradox contained in the length of description, that is, the description of objects whose ability of representation inevitably undergoes an abrupt change thanks to, rather than in spite of, the amount of description achieved, is an extremely ambiguous element that exposes the fundamental unattainability of realistic description. This element of change inevitably contained in the length of description is recognized mainly in terms of: 1) temporal difference in the axes of narration and fiction, 2) confusion or opacity of fictional space, and 3) an emergence of productivity out of the concerns with representation. In this paper, I will first clarify the complex character of the potentially dangerous element of description by expounding on the above-mentioned three aspects, in reference to Shikibu Koji by Izumi Kyoka. Next, I will examine specific modes of description adopted by contemporary novelists. In my discussion of contemporary young writers, I will contrast the tendencies between the male writers, including Shimada Masahiko, Kobayashi Kyoji, and Takahashi Gen-ichiro, who, sensitive to the ambiguity of description, tend to exclude description from their texts, and the female writers like Sagisawa Megumu, Yamada Eimi, and Ogawa Yoko, who frequently adopt description to produce some postive effects. By this, I will designate the present situation to be the one in which the writers adopt the attitudes of either critical evasion or reactionary conformity vis-a-vis the historically-produced problem of description, critically examining the "Den-tsu" mentality dominating contemporary literary environment. The works to be discussed include: Path by the River by Sagisawa Megumu, Bed-time Eyes by Yamada Eimi, Dormitory by Ogawa Yoko, and A Rectory by Hino Keizo.
View full abstract