Abstract
Building upon comparative principles, this semantic reading of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s essay In Praise of Shadows and J.M.G. Le Clézio’s early writings illustrates how both the Franco-Mauritian author and the Japanese writer problematize modern Western perception laden with concepts stifling flexible imagination through the mysterious worldview of light/darkness. They also simultaneously express the hope that another way of life leading to liberation is possible. Delving into the spiritual confinement of the subject, they demonstrate how keeping rich creativity within one’s heart can be an escape from a stagnant society. Albeit in very different mediums, Tanizaki and Le Clézio assert that the disorientation of the identical life all throughout the world is justified, because of the deleterious effects of a sense of sensibility being prescribed by an overly rationalized society. Both of them endeavor to tap into the pessimism of those who have been disenfranchised by the occidental dualistic cognitive model in order to rechannel this sorrow in a positive manner. Haunted by the same existential indignation about the current state of affairs, Le Clézio and Tanizaki explicitly attempt to incite in each culture an ideal balance between reality and fiction for the subject in an effort to develop aesthetic pleasures.
Bio Note
KENICHIRO OTANI holds a doctorate in literature from the Sorbonne University. His research focuses on the adoption and use of literary thinking techniques by contemporary writers in relation to social realities and human life in the Anthropocene/Technocene. He is the author of the book entitled Le jeune Le Clézio en blanc et noir (Éditions Complicités, Études Lecléziennes Collection, 2025).
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Recommended Citation
Otani, Kenichiro
(2025)
"Light and Darkness for Aesthetic Pleasure: An Exploration of J.M.G. Le Clézio’s Early Writings and Jun’ichiro Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows,"
The Coastal Review: An Online Peer-reviewed Journal: Vol. 15:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
DOI: 10.20429/cr.2025.150102
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/thecoastalreview/vol15/iss1/2
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