Page:Japanese Literature (Keene).pdf/105

Rh the inferiority of the writers but also from the lack of discrimination on the part of readers. He wrote, “It has long been the custom in our country to consider the novel as a device for education, and its chief function is frequently proclaimed to be the encouragement or chastisement of morals, but in practice the only books which are read are horror stories or works of pornography.” According to Tsubouchi the way out of the literary difficulties in which Japan found herself was to adopt the Western view of literature and abandon the old concept of literature as an instrument of didactic intent. He had heard an American scholar speak in Tokyo about the meaning of art, and subscribed to his views. According to him, art fulfilled its functions to the extent that it was completely decorative, for was not something which entertained people and elevated their tastes an essential thing to society?

Tsubouchi’s arguments approach the familiar belief in art for art’s sake, but he was not content with merely urging Japanese to abandon their old views on the function of literature; he called for new forms which were better suited to the complexity of modern man than verses in 31 syllables or tales of wild adventure. He declared, “How extremely uncomplex a thing Japanese verse of all sorts appears when compared with Western poetry … When I say this I may be slandering the poetry of the Imperial Land as being very crude, but with the general development of culture and the advance of our knowledge by several stages, our emotions cannot help changing and becoming more complex. The men of old were simple and they had straightforward emotions. Thus they could vent their full feelings with just 31 syllables, but we cannot completely express all we feel with so few words.”

Tsubouchi’s remarks have been quoted at some length because of their great historical significance. He was one of the first