by axxxm
Question on Literature Studies
31/March/2023 in Tokyo
Along with "The Tale of Genji", I was reading several other books too regarding 11th century of Japan
There are many things in "The Tale of Genji" that a Japanese person in the 21st century no longer understand
Some were useful (about historical/cultural/political things)
Some were unbearable
I personally don't really understand things called literature studies/researches
They do academic research, study literatures & write thesis/books about it
There are many of such books on famous writers/novels, such as Mishima, Tanizaki, or "The Tale of Genji"
I used to enjoy reading these books, in particular about Mishima
These professors liked Mishima's novels
Actually they quite liked it
That's why they did very intensive research for years, and wrote a book that entirely talked about Mishima's novel/novels
They were fond of Mishima like myself, so I felt like as if they verified or supported my interest & a sense of liking towards Mishima
But at some point, I started to feel something unbearable in these literature studies
It was getting difficult to understand what these professors........who are adult enough, intelligent enough, mature enough........were doing everyday
Spending all day, for years & years, reading fiction novels countless times in his/her small room alone
& making assumptions and interpretations about fictional characters and events
& writing an "academic" thesis/book......
It's getting harder not to wonder ".......don't they feel emptiness to be a total obedient slave of someone & keep consuming their works all day long & making 'a book review' which is basically nothing but mental masturbation?"
It's getting harder not to wonder ".......don't they create their own original work by themselves, or at least don't they feel a burning desire to produce their own works, instead of consuming someone else's works & only making some lesser-value things around?"
It's getting harder not to wonder ".......don't they realise 'production' is far more satisfying than 'consumption'?"
..............Obviously, what I've written here so far is just laughable
A man in Tokyo, who isn't student anymore, spends time in reading an old archaic 11th century novel on Monday morning & talks about "usefulness" or "practicality" or "meaning"
.......this is nothing but just laughable
