I really enjoyed this week’s reading and the shared theme of historyand lineage. When I saw that the focus was “Dealing with History,” I assumed it would be focused primarily on historical events, and so I was very pleasantly surprised in how each of the stories intertwined more complex portrayals of both historical events and the narrator’s own history.
My favorite works were Erika Kobayashi’s pieces. The rhythm of each story was so beautiful and emotional–it felt like every corner I took there revealed new layers of information that defined the narrator’s identity. It reminded me that your own history is intrinsically informed by other peoples’. They were each extraordinarily intimate, too, which made it a very emotional read for me as I felt I was prying into someone else’s heart.
I felt this way towards Murakami’s piece about his father as well, though it was a more painful read in the information he revealed about his father. One of the parts that struck me the most was when he compared his father’s apprenticeship at the temple with his intended adoption to the cat they were going to abandon. This was especially heartbreaking, as it was the first emotional scar he carried with him for the rest of his life. Through reflections on these memories, Murakami learned more about his father and the trauma he accumulated throughout his life, seemingly using these memories and research as a way to understand his own relationship and experiences with him. I thought this piece was a very thoughtful and empathetic portrayal of Murakami’s father that offers Murakami the grounding to analyze his own identity in the context of his father’s.
I had read Tokyo Ueno Station last semester with Prof. Frederick, and so it was really interesting to read it again alongside these other stories. I liked seeing how Yu Miri weaves memory throughout her narrative, often fading in and out of focus and switching between present day. The socioeconomic lens she applies also is a very devastating portrayal of the hardships one may face throughout life, and it demonstrates how one’s own history is dependent on circumstances of a collective history.
I also liked Yu Miri’s The End of August, although I wasn’t quite sure how to easily follow the narrative given it was an excerpt. The form of the narrative was very interesting and different, and though I liked it a lot, I also struggled with comprehending the subject easily…maybe that’s the point though. From what I could interpret, the characters are Koreans living under Japanese occupation. This was a refreshing perspective as it gives us an external look at Japan, still within Asia though. It reminded me a bit of Pachinko by Lee Min Jin.
Aoko Matsuda’s read was fun! I don’t really have much to comment on other than I liked the personification of the national anthem. This also gives an interesting perspective on national identity and history.
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