Japanese Literature the Stories of Traditional Japanese

Japanese Literature

The stories of traditional Japanese literature contributed to the creation of Japan's cultural identity, just as all national literature contributes to the country of their origin. There are specific characteristics of a nation which influence and are influence by the psychological and sociological setting in which they were created. In the Japanese culture, there is a high emphasis placed both on nature and the natural world. What is granted to humanity by a higher power must be protected, preserved, and appreciated. This love and care for the natural world is evident in many pieces of Japanese literature, particularly in the short stories "The Lady who Admired Vermin" and "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter."

In the story "The Lady Who Admired Vermin," the main character is interested in vermin, rather than butterflies or flowers as other young women care about. The reason for this is that she finds caterpillars and insects to be more fascinating. Although flowers and butterflies are also part of the natural world, everyone chooses to admire them while being reviled by other bugs. This woman loves worms and caterpillars because they are of nature and because few else would deign to love them. She also detests makeup or other means by which a person could hide their true self. The author writes that she "never plucked her eyebrows, and never applied took blackening because she thought it was bothersome and dirty" (Lady 257). Women in Japan would wear makeup and do other cosmetic things to make themselves seem more appealing to men. This is counter to the Japanese promotion and preference of nature and being natural. In this, even though the woman is different from her peers, she is actually a closer version of the ideal Japanese aesthetic than other flower-loving women.

Nature also presents itself as a theme in traditional Japanese literature in the short fairy tale "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter." In this story, a young girl named Kaguyahime is born of nature, rather than man. Her father figure discovers her while toiling in his bamboo cutting. His child is extremely beautiful and wins the love of wealthy young men, princes, and even the emperor of Japan. However, this girl is so consumed with the natural world that she is reluctant to accept any human being as her life partner. Instead, she is forced to return to her natural family who live in the Moon. Kaguyahime writes a letter that reads, "If only I had been born of this earth, I would have stayed with you until no act of mine could have caused you to grief" (Tale 36). The lesson of the story is that the most beautiful things born of nature are gifts which are granted to human beings by those with supreme power. The gifts may be taken at any time and should be appreciated and beloved for however brief their stay.

Cultural studies and literary theory have worked together to find a correlation between a country's literary creations and their culture (Culler 46). With this being the case, reading literature from a particular national heritage and historical period can also give insight into what the culture might have been like. In the same vein, understanding the history of a given culture can aid in the interpretation of a piece of literature. For the nation of Japan, one of the most important components of the national psyche is the love of nature and the natural beauties of this world, even those that are not perceived as beautiful (Abe 4). Appreciation of nature became part of the national identity and then a part of the literature of the age.