Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Donald Keene

Quote by Donald Keene

“După Tsubouchi, pentru a se ieşi din impasul literar în care se găsea Japonia, soluţia era adoptarea viziunii occidentale asupra literaturii şi abandonarea vechiului concept al literaturii văzute ca instrument al scopului didactic… În Japonia nu exista o asemenea tradiţie a individualismului, cel puţin de cînd războaiele civile din secolul al XII-lea şi de mai tîrziu au dus la formarea unei societăţi feudale rigide, în care pretenţiile individului erau reprimate cu severitate… Astfel, cînd cineva îşi ia rămas bun de la amfitrion după o petrecere, el trebuie să se scuze pentru comportarea sa nepotrivită, şi tot astfel, urmărind căderea florilor de cireş sau spuma dusă de apă, el trebuie să scoată exclamaţii în legătură cu grabnica trecere a vieţii. S-a elaborat un tipar de comportare care a anulat orice preferinţă individuală; faptul dă o oarecare platitudine ornamentală unui popor care iubeşte istoria şi ficţiunea.”

Quote by Donald Keene

Work

Japanese Literature: An Introduction for Western Readers

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Donald Keene

Browse famous quotes and profile details for Donald Keene. more

You May Also Like

“I've been mistaken to assume that in this little village in the spring, so like a dream or a poem, life is a matter only of the singing birds, the falling blossoms, and the bubbling springs. The real world has crossed mountains and seas and is bearing down even on this isolated village, whose inhabitants have doubtless lived here in peace down the long stretch of years ever since they fled as defeated warriors from the great clan wars of the twelfth century. Perhaps a millionth part of the blood that will dye the wide Manchurian plains will gush from this young man's arteries, or seethe forth at the point of the long sword that hangs at his waist. Yet here this young man sits, beside an artist for whom the sole value of human life lies in dreaming. If I listen carefully, I can even hear the beating of his heart, so close are we. And perhaps even now, within that beat reverberates the beating of the great tide that is sweeping across the hundreds of miles of that far battlefield. Fate has for a brief and unexpected moment brought us together in this room, but beyond that it speaks no more.”