| Summary: | The aim of this thesis is to reveal the transformation that takes place in
Jun'ichoro Tanizaki's aestheticism by examining the maternal images in his
hahakoi novels: "Longing for Mother" (Haha o kouru ki), "Captain
Shigemoto's Mother" (Shosho Shigemoto no haha), and "The Bridge of
Dreams" (Yume no ukihashi). The link between the maternal images and
Tanizaki's aestheticism can be found in his artistic manifesto "In Praise of
Shadows" (In'ei raisan). The aesthetic ideals and prerequisites set out in
"Praise" are the very qualities possessed by Tanizaki's mother characters. The
common qualities among these mothers do not constitute the main purpose
of the thesis. Rather, it is in their differences, which are instrumental in
demonstrating the process of evolution occurring in the author's aesthetic
beliefs and principles, that my purpose is to be found. In order to discover
these differences, the relationship between the protagonist and his mother
and the protagonist's view of his mother, rather than the image of the
mother in isolation, are explored.
It is postulated that Tanizaki endeavoured throughout his career to
establish a relationship between his art of fictional narrative and life/reality
in a fashion that will satisfy him both as an artist and a man. This effort is
vividly displayed in the confrontation between the protagonist's split selves:
reason (reality) and instinct (fantasy). Tanizaki begins with the question of
morality in art and focuses on the controversial issue of the incest taboo. In
the early stage of his career, Tanizaki proclaimed the extreme aesthetic
doctrines such as "art for art's sake" and "art instead of life." In order to realize this belief in its full force, Tanizaki subverts and
revises his own aesthetic ideals. Finally in "Bridge," he successfully actualizes
his fantasy, the unlimited expansion of imagination, and the protagonist
obtains a complete freedom from moral bounds, but not without dreadful
consequences. Unsatisfied with the result of the realized fantasy, Tanizaki
undertakes another re-evaluation of his aestheticism and accepts both fantasy
and reality as vital and legitimate realms or spheres for his art. He comes to a
revelation that the mission of the writer is hot to choose one over the other,
but to embrace both realms and stimulate the interplay between them.
Perhaps, his aesthetic belief then is not so much "art for art's sake", but "both
art and life."
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