Shiga Naoya's : a dark night's passing / edited by Kinya Tsuruta

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This volume contains the extensively revised versions of the original papers, which incorporate the results of the discussions held during a workshop on "A dark night's passing" by Shiga Naoya, held at the University of Singapore in December 1994. Every participant in this Shiga workshop doubled as a discussant for another scholar's paper. The participants were also asked to respond to the critique produced by his/her discussant. It saw discussions of themes which included self, nature, amae, the women surrounding Kensaku, family romance, the "sensibility of the womb," the relationship between Kensaku and Shiga, and Shiga's literary style. Inevitably, however, much of the debate centred around the protagonist's "growth" through the journey which is central to the story, as the way in which one assesses his changes critically influences one's evaluation of the work. This topic generated a multitude of divergent opinions and spirited discussions are during the workshop