| Description |
1 online resource |
| Series |
Cornell East Asia Series ; 200 |
|
Cornell East Asia series ; 200.
|
| Contents |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- Notes on Translation -- Acknowledgments -- The Wasteland -- About the Author -- About the Translator |
| Summary |
The Wasteland explores the psychology of the modern Japanese woman and her urge to realize an inner self of latent sexuality, long suppressed in Japan's male-dominated society. Nobe Michiko, the novel's narcissistic protagonist, leaves ruined lives in her wake as she pursues her lustful goals. The author, Takahashi Takako (1932-2013) earned bachelor's and master's degrees in French literature at prestigious Kyoto University, a remarkable achievement for a woman in the 1950s. There, she was influenced by the decadent poetry of Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) and the writings of novelist and Catholic apologist François Mauriac (1885-1970). Christianity and depravity characterize both The Wasteland and many of Takahashi's other works. The novel was first published in 1980 at a time of explosive Japanese economic growth, which, in Takahashi's view, had created in Tokyo a wasteland of immorality and inhumanity. Yet it is a Christian novel, for the author was a devout Roman Catholic (indeed a one-time nun), and the title page epigraph from the Old Testament book of Hosea unmistakably mantles the narrative in a religious message: God is here to help if the wayward would but listen. But, do they listen? |
| Notes |
Online resource; title from PDF title page (Ebsco, viewed December 8, 2022) |
| Subject |
Man-woman relationships -- Japan -- Fiction
|
|
LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Asian / Japanese.
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Man-woman relationships
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Japan
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| Genre/Form |
Electronic books
|
|
novels.
|
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Novels
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Fiction
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Fiction.
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Novels.
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Romans.
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| Form |
Electronic book
|
| Author |
Dean, Britten, translator.
|
| ISBN |
9781942242000 |
|
194224200X |
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