I always like a book that changes the way I see the world. As a Westerner who likes LIGHT more LIGHT, this praise of shadows, the dusky atmosphere of the past and architecture which protects and conceals, where mystery is held, reborn, is a peripheral vision of existence I'd never imagined. It's been a year or so since I read it--but I still recall his image of enamelwork which is garish and awful in broad daylight, but has incredible beauty and charm in low light--which is not a defect, as we would see in Western culture, but simply that it's designed to be seen in that mysterious light of the traditional Japanese structure. LIght is taken into consideration. you don't light for the object, you create the object for that light. It reminded me of so many low=light rooms which have been particularly memorable, romantic--candlelit... theaters and nightclubs, romantic bedrooms, which yes, are horrors in daylight--but that makes us think further about the nature of pleasure and certainly, of love, in a less pejorative standpoint to the idea of 'illusion'--we Westerners live in horror of it... take all the charm out of so many things.

Just a note--the small size of this book makes a charming gift.

https://misgrandespasiones-rosa.blogs...

Poco a poco estoy intentando adentrarme en la literatura japonesa por lo que cuando mi gran amiga (y cuñada) Laura me dijo que tenía este librito me lo prestó, porque sabe que aunque yo en casa tengo miles de libros por leer, siempre necesito más.

Desde que me lo prestó he tardado bastante en leerlo, y eso que se lee en un suspiro, porque siempre hay compromisos y lecturas que se cuelan en la lista de pendientes.

Este breve ensayo contiene las reflexiones y pensamientos de Tanizaki sobre el gusto japonés por los espacios donde dominan las sombras. Gusto que se ve reflejado en su arquitectura, la disposición de puertas y ventanas, la decoración y los materiales utilizados.

"Por lo tanto no parece descabellado pretender que es en la construcción de los retretes donde la arquitectura japonesa ha alcanzado el colmo del refinamiento. Nuestros antepasados, que lo poetizaban todo, consiguieron paradójicamente transmutar en un lugar del más exquisito buen gusto aquel cuyo destino en la casa era el más sórdido y, merced a una estrecha asociación con la naturaleza, consiguieron difumunarlo mediante una red de delicadas asociaciones de imágenes. Compara con la actitud de los occidentales que, deliberadamente, han decidido que el lugar era sucio y ni siquiera debía mencionarse en público, la nuestra es infinitamente más sabia porque hemos penetrado ahí, en verdad, hasta la médula del refinamiento."

Hay que tener en cuenta que esta obra se escribió en los años treinta del siglo pasado, por lo que aún Japón se encontraba inmerso en el proceso de occidentalización, por decirlo de alguna forma, y es algo que pone mucho de relieve el autor en esta obra, ya que realiza continuas comparaciones con los gustos occidentales y japoneses, y aunque no elogia precisamente lo occidental, si reconoce sus avances y pragmatismo, pero sin dejar de poner en valor las tradiciones y costumbres japonesas. Por eso El elogio de las sombras es un canto a tiempos pasados, donde la búsqueda de la belleza era lo que motivaba todo.

"En realidad, la belleza de una habitación japonesa, producida únicamente por un juego sobre el grado de opacidad de la sombra, no necesita ningún accesorio. Al occidental que lo ve le sorprende esa desnudez y cree estar tan sólo ante unos muros grises y desprovistos de cualquier ornato, interpretación totalmente legítima desde su punto de vista, pero que demuestra que no ha captado en absoluto el enigma de la sombra."


Está escrito de una forma muy poética, pero sin llegar a ser abrumadora, y se entiende muy bien, con un lenguaje claro pero bello, lo que el autor quería transmitir al escribir este ensayo.

Merece mucho la pena dedicar un rato a su lectura. Muy recomendable, sobre todo para los amantes de la cultural oriental.

"Algunos dirán que la falaz belleza creada por la penumbra no es la belleza auténtica. No obstante, como decía anteriormente, nosotros los orientales creamos belleza haciendo nacer sombras en lugares que en sí mismos son insignificantes."

Bayıldım.
Epeydir bu denli akıcı bir deneme okumamıştım.

Yazarın gölgeye dair tüm övgüleri o kadar doğru ki... sadece birine katılmıyorum -kadınlar.

Japon geleneğinde kaşları tamamen alınan, dişleri siyaha dudakları da koyu yeşile boyanan ve 'evin gölgelerinde sakla-nan' o kadınların sevilesi bir gölgede değil bir takım katı kuralların rahatsız gölgesinde olduklarına şüphe yok...

لعل هاروكي موراكامي، وياسوناري كاواباتا، ويوكيو ميشيما هم أشهر أدباء اليابان في العالم العربي. ولكن الفرصة لم تسنح للقارئ العربي للتعرف على جانيتشيرو تانيزاكي وهو روائي ياباني لا يقل في مكانته أو مستواه عن الآخرين. بل إن الكثيرين من عشاق وخبراء الأدب الياباني يختارون روايته "الأخوات ماكيوكا" كأفضل رواية يابانية في القرن العشرين.

أما الكتاب الذي بين ايدينا والمعنون بـ"مديح الظل" فهو عبارة عن مقال مطول (48 صفحة) كتبه تانيزاكي عن موضوع أثار اهتمامه لفترة طويلة وهو: الفارق بين مفهوم الجمال عند اليابانيين خصوصاً والشرقيين بشكل عام والجمال عند الغربيين، وسيثير هذا المقال الجدل والاهتمام لفترة طويلة داخل اليابان وخارجها، بل إن هذا مفكراً مرموقاً مثل إدوارد سعيد سيعتبر هذا المقال مثالاً متميزاً على حدة الوعي المتنامي بين أبناء الثقافات الغير الأوروبية بالتمايز بينهم وبين والثقافة الغربية، في مرحلة ما بعد الاستعمار.

ولكن علينا أن ننتبه، هذا ليس مقالا سياسياً. يتحدث تانيزاكي هنا بكل أريحية وانطلاق ومعرفة عميقة ومرح عن الجمال في الفنون اليابانية التقليدية مثل: العمارة، والرقص، والأدب أو عن مظاهر الجمال الياباني في النساء والطبيعة والأزياء، والطعام ...الخ

المثير للسخرية أن تانيزاكي كان يعرف أن الموضوع الذي يكتب عنه (الجمال الياباني التقليدي) هو على وشك الانقراض، ولكنه أراد أن يستمتع ويتغنى بصورة مثالية عنه في ذهنه، وتحكي زوجته القصة التالية، تقول الزوجة أن تانيزاكي أراد أن يبني جديداً للأسرة على اطراف طوكيو، فقام بدعوة أحد المهندسين لمكتبه للتباحث في تصميم المنزل،، دخل المهندس مكتب تانيزاكي متحمساً وهو يقول : لقد قرأت مقالك "في مديح الظل" يا سيد تانيزاكي واعرف جيداً نوع البيت الذي تريدني أن ابنيه لك. ليرد عليه تانيزاكي باندهاش : ولكني أريد السكن في بيت غربي الطراز، أما البيت الذي وصفته فهو صورة مثالية في ذهني عن عالم يموت أمامنا!

Να πω αρχικά πως δεν είμαι fan της λογοτεχνίας της Ανατολής, οπότε εξ΄ορισμού δεν θα είμαι αντικειμενική κριτής μιας και είμαι προκατειλημμένη απέναντι στο κείμενο. Το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο δεν ξέρω ακόμα που μπορώ να το κατατάξω. Θα μπορούσε να χαρακτηριστεί σαν εσωτερικός μονόλογος του συγγραφέα, σαν ένα πολύ προσωπικό δοκίμιο, σαν εγχειρίδιο αρχιτεκτονικής, γαστρονομίας και ανθρωπογεωγραφίας ή σαν μια απλή συγκριτική μελέτη δύο πολιτισμών της Αντολής και της Δύσης. Έχει μέσα στοιχεία άξια να συζητηθούν, προωθεί διάφορες σκέψεις για την εξέλιξη του πολιτισμού μας, αλλά δυστυχώς δεν αποτέλεσε για εμένα ένα βιβλίο σταθμό, σε καμία περίπτωση. Σίγουρα όμως δεν αδικίσω τον συγγραφέα και θα διαβα΄σω στο εγγύς μέλλον και άλλα βιβλία του που κρίνονται πολύ αξιόλογο από ευρύ αναγνωστικό κοινό!
Εις το επανιδείν!

I read this a few years ago. I thought it was very interesting to see Japanese asthetics from Tanizaki's perspective. Minimalism, Dark aged wood, the play of shadows, finding things to be more beautiful for their imperfections. The Wabi-Sabi sort of aesthetic that tends to be somewhat of a foreign idea to westerners. If I remember correctly there is a part discussing the aesthetics of new fancy western toilets vs the old Japanese ones. It is apparent that Tanizaki despises western influences, and wishes to hold onto an older Japanese aesthetic. In a way we all feel the sentiment that Tanizaki is expressing. As new things come along and threaten a way of life and thinking that we came to love and appreciate. When I was in my twenties I remember crying when Merle Haggard died, not because he died really, but because for me it signified the death of my grandparents generation and their way of life.

"The sun never knew how great it was until it hit the side of a building."
-Louis Kahn

In Praise of Shadows is an essay about the differences between the traditional Japanese and Western cultures. The main focus of the essay is on the role the shadows and darkness play in Japanese architecture and literature and how the artificial light usually takes away the beauty and cancels the mystery.

In the west people tend to emphasize light in their environment... big windows, skylights. Shiny, gleaming surfaces are important and appear clean and fresh. Tanizaki wrote this short book to explain the importance of shadow and darkness in oriental culture... shadows that have been chased away with the welcomed technology of the west.

This is an essay on the aesthetics of shadows, on some of the differences between the west and the east. Tanizaki's text flows from one topic to another almost dreamlike and ranges over architecture, jade, food, skin tone, and toilets.

Every time I am shown to an old, dimly lit, and, I would add, impeccably clean toilet in a Nara or Kyoto temple, I am impressed with the singular virtues of Japanese architecture. The parlor may have its charms, but the Japanese toilet truly is a place of spiritual repose. It always stands apart from the main building, at the end of a corridor, in a grove fragrant with leaves and moss. No words can describe that sensation as one sits in the dim light, basking in the faint glow reflected from the shoji, lost in meditation or gazing out at the garden. The novelist Natsume Soseki counted his morning trips to the toilet a great pleasure, 'a physiological delight' he called it. And surely there could be no better place to savor this pleasure than a Japanese toilet where, surrounded by tranquil walls and finely grained wood, one looks out upon blue skies and green leaves.

“Biz Doğulular, ücra yerlerde gölgeler oluşturur, oralarda güzelliği yaratırız: Güzelliği şeyin kendisinde değil ama gölgelerin desenlerinde, ışık ve karanlıkta, birinin diğeri üzerinde yarattığında buluruz. Neden karanlıkta güzellik arama eğilimi sadece Doğulularda bu kadar güçlüdür? Bana göre biz Doğulular, içinde bulunduğumuz şartlardan hoşnut olmayı amaçlayıp elimizdekilerle mutlu olduğumuz için karanlıktan şikayet etmek yerine bunun bir çaresi olmadığını kabullenip ışık azsa azdır der, karanlık üzerine düşüncelere gömülür ve karanlığın içindeki doğal güzelliği keşfederiz.”

Gölgeye Övgü, Tanizaki’nin Doğu kültürüne muhafazakâr bir güzellemesi. Tanpınar tipi, Ahmet Haşim tipi bir modernizm karşıtlığını estetik, mimari ve hatta ulusalcı görüşlerle kuruyor yazar. Cumhuriyetin ilk yıllarında Ahmet Haşim’in Müslüman Saat adlı denemesiyle aktardığı, ezan sesleriyle düzenlenen zaman dilimlerine duyduğu özlem, Tanizaki’nin geleneksel Japon değerlerine duyduğu hayranlıkla birebir örtüşüyor. Ahmet Haşim’e bugün katılmıyoruz, fakat onu nasıl hâlâ severek okuyorsak, Tanizaki’nin dili de su gibi akıcı ve keyifli.

Japonya’nın muhafazakâr kültürünün dönüşümünün de yarattığı toplumsal sancılar açısından bizimkinden aşağı kalır yanı yok. Yeniye ve moderne dünyanın neresinde olursa olsun kuşkuyla bakılmış. Bununla beraber, 21. Yüzyılda aramızdan kaç kişi mum ışığını elektriğe tercih edecektir? Tanizaki’nin ve dönemdaşı Frankfurt Okulu’nun bilim ve teknolojiye yönelik şüpheci eleştirilerinin günümüzde yeri kalmadı: Gölgenin loş ışık oyunlarını yok ediyor diye elektriğe direnmek, bu kitap yazıldıktan yüz yıl sonra tarihsel bir belge olarak okunabiliyor ancak.

Buyrun bir de buradan bakın: Günümüz şairlerinden Tuğrul Keskin’in dizeleriyle, aradan geçen yüz yılda anlam nasıl yön değiştirmiş:

“Hızlandır adımlarını karanlığa kalma
Gölgeler büyüdükçe insan küçülüyor”

Tanizaki, ışık ile gölge, aydınlık ile karanlık, doğa ile mimarlık üzerinden Doğu’ya bakıyor...
Geleneksel ile moderni ele alırken, geleneksel Japon tiyatrosunun bazı unsurlarının nasıl anlamsızlaştığını açıkladığı bölümler dikkatle okunmalı...
Yaşadığı çevre, kentler hızla değişen, modernleşme adıma mahalleleri yok edilen bizler için daha da anlamlı bir kitap Gölgeye Övgü...
Restorasyon yapalım derken, estetiği katleden, plastiği taş-kagir binalara sokan geniş çoğunluk için ne ifade eder bilemiyorum...
Jaguar’ın bu kitabı, çevrelerindeki çirkinleşmeden “Mutsuz azınlığa” olmuş...

interesting aesthetic observations of light and shadow that are completely crippled by the unjustified, reactionary-style ramblings of an old man. it's racist and sexist and an utter embarrassment

There are many perverse opinions in Tanizaki’s little blog post of a book, about the toilet being the Japanese temple’s true seat of beauty, about Japanese women only being attractive in the dark, etc. Many of these positions, as cardulelia points out (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) are truly off-putting and not worth taking seriously. Tanizaki knows he’s being perverse and I suspect he enjoyed others spitting out their drinks at his impishness. That part wasn’t all that interesting to me. But the question at heart here is worth considering: Must beauty always, as Tanizaki puts it, “grow from the realities of life”?

Or another way of putting it: Are things beautiful because they are in some sense “true”?

For Christmas my mother, a wonderful woman, sent me the Men's Steens Mountain™ 2.0 Full Zip Fleece Jacket from Columbia Sportswear in light heather gray. I have not tried on this article of clothing and I will be returning it immediately.

My mother, bless her for her continual efforts, has come to understand the dangers of sending me clothing of any color whatsoever. Light heather gray seemed like a safe bet, I’m sure.

But there is no way she could’ve anticipated my aversion to the garment’s excess of zippers. Zippers, as anyone who’s thought about them deeply can tell you, are a lie. Nothing true in our world can be opened and closed so easily and completely. Zippers are an affront to the contingent half-openness of buttons. Their loud zipping sound of metal-on-metal is designed to drown out the humble rustle of buttons negotiating their way through fabric. And don’t get me started on the 100% polyester MTR filament fleece. This lab-created fabric with its always-new, optimistic sheen, deflecting moisture while creating warmth without bulk, spits in the face of nature. I would rather shiver than clothe myself in such falsity.

I’m being perverse myself now. I’m not unaware that there are people on this planet and even in my own community who don’t have enough clothing to keep warm. Who am I to reject a perfectly functional garment based on . . . what? Poetry?

It’s probably natural to create one’s world and oneself through the considered aesthetics of one’s surroundings and clothing. No, I don’t actually think beauty reflects truth. But maybe a kind of personal truth—values. One should have those. But it also seems like a trap to invest so much meaning in objects. This is after all what every advertising firm is trying to do, make the car you must buy to get to work not just a vehicle but a Horcrux, a piece of your soul. It’s what they want, for you to become precious and particular about your “belongings.”

So, I partly commiserate with Tanizaki about the death of a value found in the aesthetics of shadowy Japanese houses of yore. But I also shrug at him and note that these are just things, and not even things are meant to live forever.

. . . And yet the Men's Steens Mountain™ 2.0 Full Zip Fleece Jacket must go. It must. Perhaps I will donate it.