![]() ![]() His early work explored the relationship between disenfranchised individuals and authoritarian power. This made him one of the few Japanese intellectuals whose work resonated with global questions of identity, injustice and the search for home.īorn in 1935, Ōe started publishing in his twenties. On and off the page, he combined an attentive focus on Japan with a profound knowledge of Western thought and expression, ranging from French philosophy (he graduated with a thesis on Sartre) to modern and classical authors such as TS Eliot and Dante Alighieri. Due to his open democratic commitment, he faced violent threats from right-wing organizations and was even brought to trial. He even refused the award of the national order of culture, an honor bestowed by the emperor. In his sharp, often merciless commentaries on his country, he criticized factors damaging democracy and human rights, including nationalistic governmental policies, the presence of dangerous atomic power plants and the imperial system. ![]() Ōe was the last politically engaged Japanese postwar writer. ![]() In Japan open political discussion and participation is discouraged and the media are often influenced by the government. The death at 88 of Japanese writer and Nobel prize winner Kenzaburō Ōe on March 3 leaves a deep wound in his readers – and in the Japanese community, which has lost one of its most powerful voices and critics. Kenzaburō Ōe: a writer of real humanity, the real Japan – Asia Times Close Search for: ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |