The Problem of Suicide and Double Suicide in Contemporary Japanese Literature

Authors

  • Liala Khronopulo St. Petersburg State University, 7–9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu13.2016.208

Abstract

This paper explores the problem of suicide and double suicide in contemporary Japanese literature. Characters from fourteen stories are under consideration, with respect to categories such as shame, guilt, and retribution. Based on stories of six popular Japanese writers (Hoshi Shinichi’s “The Overtaking”, Atōda Takashi’s “The Hair”, “The Ghost of the Office”, “The Red Dress”, “The Visitor” and “The God of Happiness”, Akagawa Jirō’s “The Double Suicide”, “Let’s Shock”, “The Dancing Man”, “The Gossip” and “The New Worker”, Miyabe Miyuki’s “Don’t Say Anything”, Otsuichi’s “Ishinome”, and Isaka Kōtarō’s “Grasshopper”) I analyse characteristic features of these “suicide” stories in the Japanese literature of the last four decades.

Keywords:

contemporary Japanese literature, suicide, double suicide, shame, guilt, retribution

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References

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Published

2016-06-20

How to Cite

Khronopulo, L. (2016). The Problem of Suicide and Double Suicide in Contemporary Japanese Literature. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, (2), 74–81. https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu13.2016.208

Issue

No. 2 (2016): Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Series 13. Asian Studies. African Studies

Section

Literary studies

License

Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.