A Study Of Aesthetic Modernity In Japanese Private Novel

As a representative literary style of Japan after the modern era,the Private Novel,while reflecting the contradictions,divisions,pains and struggles that modernity brings to individuals,also preserves the aesthetic consciousness of the classical Japanese tradition and reflects the special personality of aesthetic modernity in the modern Japanese literature.Taking Private Novels as an example,this paper analyzes the paradox of modernity faced by Japan in the process of modernization and the continuation and transformation of traditional Japanese aesthetics in the contemporary era with the help of the sense of aesthetic modernity and its literary expression.As a product of Western cultural influence,the Private Novel has both "new" and "old" characteristics,and also shows the unconventional nature of the cultural mix.Therefore,the presentation of its aesthetic modernity is also multifaceted,both positive and negative,which will be analyzed in depth in the context of this paper.In the first chapter,we first review the transformation of modern Japanese society and the beginnings of modern literature,and observe the context of the times,society,and culture in which the Private Novel emerged,especially the impact of the introduction of Western literary trends on modern Japanese literature.Then,the formation and evolution of modern Japanese literary genres,especially naturalism,are reviewed to clarify how Private Novel became independent from naturalism and developed into a potential textual mode of Japanese fiction writing.Finally,it analyzes historically the Private Novel’s inheritance from traditional classical literature and its development in various genres scattered after the Taisho period.Chapter 2 focuses on a close textual reading of Private Novel works and analyzes the literary presentation of aesthetic modernity in Japanese Private Novel.First,it analyzes the awakening of the subjective "self" and its disillusionment,observing the contradictions,divisions,and sufferings of the Japanese modern self and the paths it chose in its search for redemption.Second,it analyzes the feelings of alienation and the symptoms of melancholy experienced by individuals in the process of Japanese modernization,and reveals the spiritual dilemmas faced by modern individuals through the exposure and depiction of diseases,dreams and desires.Finally,the nature of negativity and nihilistic tendencies in the author’s thinking are observed through the spirit of self-reflection and criticism in the characters of the Private Novels.The third chapter analyzes the aesthetic underpinnings behind Private Novel from the perspective of traditional Japanese culture and national psychology,as well as the choices and expressions of this aesthetic in the face of a social reality fraught with the dilemmas of modernity.First,influenced by the natural environment and cultural practices,the Japanese national character and aesthetic psyche carry a natural element of restlessness and destructiveness.Secondly,this uneasiness and anxiety has more obvious manifestations in the cultural choices made in the process of Japanese modernization,such as the sense of otherness,identity dilemma,and multicultural impact faced by individuals,families,and nations.Finally,this paper will reflect on the characteristics of aesthetic modernity in Japanese culture in relation to the reflexive and critical nature of modernity itself,and thus analyze the transformation of old and new paradigms that Japanese aesthetics is facing today.