zaterdag 25 juni 2016

Why are Japanese women still bewitched by the Brontes?

Japan

seem to be besotted with the three Bronte sisters: Charlotte, Emily and Anne. It’s a fascination that goes beyond reading and imagining. A disproportionately high number of Japanese women visit the Bronte’s home village of Haworth in the north of England each year, a pilgrimage that has recently been turned into the subject of a novel by Man Booker Prize-shortlisted author Mick Jackson, “Yuki Chan in Bronte Country.”

Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre” may have bewitched generations of Japanese readers, but Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” (rendered as “Arashigaoka” in Japanese) arguably stands as the most influential novel in Japan written by a non-Japanese woman. It inspired a 1988 Japanese film adaptation, which replaces the wild Yorkshire moors with a rocky Japanese volcano, but has also had a profound influence on some of the country’s most important 20th-century women writers, such as Yuko Tsushima and Taeko Kono.
Read all the article: japantimes
Photo: fukuoka

3 opmerkingen:

  1. Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” (rendered as “Arashigaoka” in Japanese) arguably stands as the most influential novel in Japan written by a non-Japanese woman

    Being a fan of vintage samurai movies,I can see why. High emotions sweeping all before it,like Love and revenge, all that good stuff. Plus when the emotion busts out, from a usually repressed society, reason has little sway. The emotion must have its way til the end , even if ruinous.

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    1. You surprise me every time. Now I learn you are a fan of vintage samurai movies. ;-)

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    2. And Koren Historical dramas too! lol( of course with English subtitles )

      I like the old samurai movies because the emotions are way "over the top"( slang for ; very great) but they are not as violent as the movies of today. The Zatoichi ( blind swordsman ) series of movies are great

      It inspired a 1988 Japanese film adaptation, which replaces the wild Yorkshire moors with a rocky Japanese volcano

      I found this film, Arashigaoka, on you tube. Spectacular looking and acting and while it changes things a bit, very true to the feeling of Emily's book , particularly the 2nd part.

      Part one
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iuj_aNiBD7k

      Part two
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM3JdKl1I9I

      There is some nudity, but not a lot by western standards

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