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“In a Bamboo Grove” ( Yabu no naka ). Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892 — 1927). Founder of modern Japanese literature Name: “Son [of] Dragon” Author of more than 150 short stories Inherited a mental disease from his mother Committed suicide at the age of 35
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“In a Bamboo Grove” (Yabu no naka) Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892 — 1927) • Founder of modern Japanese literature • Name: “Son [of] Dragon” • Author of more than 150 short stories • Inherited a mental disease from his mother • Committed suicide at the age of 35 • Father of a famous actor and a great composer • Japan’s most prestigious literary award bears his name
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa:Between East and West • Degree in English literature • Translator of European authors • Interest for history and traditional Japanese literature • Use of Japanese classics and folklore • European style of writing
“In a Bamboo Grove” (1921) • Plot • Traditional story told untraditionally • The semantic role of details (how do details create meaning?) • Points of view and narrators • Who tells the truth? • Who is the “someone” at the end?
Plot • The plot is only one of many aspects of a work of fiction. In some works the plot is very basic and unimportant. • The plot is necessary to create suspense and keep readers’ interest . • The plot serves to maintain character development. • There is a limited number of possible plots. One and the same story can be retold in many ways. • The plot can be linear and non-linear (flashbacks and flash-forwards). • The main question might be not “What happened?” but “How is it happening?”
RASHOMON: CLASSIC FILMINSPIRED BY AKUTAGAWA’S STORIES “In a Bamboo Grove” and another story, “Rashomon,” were filmed by Akira Kurosawa in 1950. RASHOMON trailer Crime witnesses