يقال إن المطبخ الياباني ليس شيئا يؤكل وانما شيء يشاهد
من الطعام والاواني وادوات المائدة للانارة و العمارة وفن المسرح يوضح الكاتب علاقة اليابان القديمة بالظل وارتباط ثقافتها بالعتمة ودرجات الضوء الخافت وعلاقة الظل بفن التأمل ، تلك العلاقة التي تبدو في ابسط الاشياء في المنازل حتى تصل للفن المسرحي
ويطرح سؤال ماذا لو كان التطور العلمي والتقني وطنيا مرتبطا بخصوصية الارض ، فحضارة عصرنا ذات اصل غربي ، لذلك هي شفافة تقدس الضوء مثل الارض التي نبتت فيها
أود ان أوسع إفريز هذا المبنى الذي يسمى الأدب ، وأعتم جدرانه ، وأغمس في الظل ما هو واضح جدا

“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 üzerinde düşüncelere gömülür ve karanlığın içindeki doğal güzelliği keşfederiz. Ancak yenilikçi Batılı yetinmeyip elindekini iyileştirmekte kararlıdır her zaman. Mumdan gaz lambasına, gaz lambasından elektrik ışığına daha aydınlık bir ışık arayışı asla bitmiyor, en önemsiz gölgeyi bile yok etmek adına hiçbir zahmetten kaçınmıyor.”

Tanizaki, Doğu ile Batı arasındaki nüanslara değinerek atalarının karanlıklarda yaşama zorunluğunu gölgeyi keşfederek güzelleştirmesini ve bunun Doğu’nun güzellik ve estetik anlayışındaki etkisini anlatıyor. Gölgelerin ve alacakaranlığın getirdiği ince, loş ışığın zarif parıltısında, geçmiş dünyanın mükemmel olmayan koşullarının güzelleşmesine dair bir övgü bir bakıma. Tabii kitabın yazım tarihinin 1933 olduğunu atlamamak gerekiyor. Zira kitabın yazılmasından yaklaşık 70 yıl sonrasında Tanizaki’nin topraklarını ziyaret ettiğimde kitapta anlatılan hassasiyeti ve gölgenin dansını ancak tapınaklar ve geleneksel alanlarda görebildim. Zira artık ışık ve renkler Japonya’nın vazgeçilmezlerinden.

In Praise of Shadows - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

لا تربطني علاقة جيدة بتانيزاكي حقيقة ويمكنني القول أنه لم تعجبني أيٌّ من رواياته التي قرأتها، لكن مقالته هذه فاجأتني. هذه مقالة طويلة ورائعة تطرح أفكارًا مهمة حول تباين نظرة المجتمعين الشرقي والغربي للعديد من الأشياء بدءًا بالضوء والظل، مرورًا بأواني الطبخ وأدوات تناول الطعام وطرق التجميل وكيفية بناء المنازل...إلخ
أحببت المقالة ونظرته الثاقبة ولمحاته الذكية وإلمامه المستفيض بالثقافتين .

مقاله ای به عنوان در ستایش سایه‌ها (درباره زیبایی شناختی)

تانیزاکی معتقد است که ژاپنی ها به لطف میراث فرهنگی خود زیبایی را در تاریکی و در سایه می‌یابند. این به این معنی است که از این فرض شروع می شود که همه اشیاء تشکیل دهنده یک جهان فرهنگی با موضوع مشترک هستند.
ارزیابی مثبت از سایه‌ها، تاریکی و شفافیت مطلقاً در تمام اشیاء جهان و رابطه‌ای که سوژه با آنها برقرار می کند آشکار می‌شود. به همین دلیل است که تانیزاکی با صحبت در‌مورد معماری، تئاتر ژاپنی (نوه، کابوکی، تئاتر عروسکی و...)، غذا و ادبیات شروع می کند.

تانیزاکی، اشیاء روزمره را بازتابی از نظامی از ارزش‌های زیبایی‌شناختی و فلسفی می‌داند که مرا یاد نقاشی های زیبای "یوهانس ورمیر" می‌اندازد. ارزش زبانی دوم. به همین ترتیب، تانیزاکی هنگام مثال زدن، ذهنیت و تجربه خود را معرفی می‌کند. او از خانه‌اش، لباس‌ها و بدن مادرش! رستوران‌ها و هتل‌هایی که بازدید کرده، نمایش‌هایی که به خوبی می‌شناسد می‌گوید.
آنچه متن را جادویی می کند نثر آن است. شاعرانه و ساده. به نظر می‌رسد که کلمات بخشی از نفس خود نویسنده هستند.
این یک کتاب آموزنده است، در مورد اینکه چگونه کارها قبلاً در ژاپن انجام می‌شد و اکنون چگونه انجام می‌شود و چقدر جادو به نفع فناوری از بین می رود.

“In verità, non esistono né segreti, nei misteri: tutto è magia dell’ombra.”

Tanizaki riflette su una delle differenze fondamentali tra Oriente e Occidente, il rapporto tra luce e ombra.
La modernità nel mondo occidentale nasce con le rivoluzioni industriali e in particolare, a fine 800, con la seconda che ebbe il vanto di illuminare a giorno le città con la luce elettrica, gettando le basi per l’espansione delle metropoli che abbiamo visto crescere fino agli eccessi attuali.
La critica dello scrittore si rivolge alla passività orientale nell’accettare e applicare questo modello, dimostrando di esserne letteralmente... abbagliati.
L’elogio dell’ombra (titolo originale) difende l’originalità della visione orientale e in un certo senso anche la sua superiorità. Immagina l’uso differente che i giapponesi avrebbero fatto di quelle stesse invenzioni, il piacere discreto e singolare che ne avrebbero ricavato. Tanizaki ripercorre così i sentieri nascosti della tradizione e prevede un futuro possibile, un’alternativa oramai impossibile. Ed ecco passare in rassegna alcuni elementi rappresentativi della visione giapponese tradizionale: la casa, gli oggetti, le donne, i giardini. E non solo.
Esemplare è il capitolo dedicato ai gabinetti: Natsume Soseki annoverava tra “i sommi piaceri dell’esistenza “le evacuazioni mattutine, “piacere fisiologico, che solo nel gabinetto alla giapponese, fra lisce pareti di legno delle sottili venature, mirando l’azzurro del cielo e il verde della vegetazione, si può assaporare sino in fondo.” Il biancore del gabinetti occidentali, la luce che li abbaglia (Tanizaki pensa agli hotel) rende forse impeccabile l’igiene mortificando l’estetica, ma forse anche l’etica dell’espellere i residui fisiologici. “Più impeccabile e lindo è quanto si vede, più siamo inclini a immaginare ripugnante e sozzo quanto resta celato. Non val meglio che la penombra regni, e sia labile il confine tra il pulito lo sporco?”

La domanda centrale, di questo e degli altri capitoli, è la seguente: “Perché ci rassegniamo ad abbandonare tutti i nostri usi? Perché rinunciamo ai nostri gusti? Perché non tentiamo di conciliare il nuovo con la nostra sensibilità?”

Risponderei da occidentale con il suono di una lirica in questo caso vicina nel contenuto alla sensibilità orientale:

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind...
...the answer is blowing in the wind ...

بسیار جذاب! پر از ایده‌های معماری و زیبایی‌شناختی بر اساس فرهنگ ژاپن!
خوندنش بسیار لذت‌بخش بود.

“We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates… Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty.”

This is a fascinating, surprising, occasionally amusing essay that lauds and explains traditional Japanese aesthetics relating to light and its absence. It’s applied to architecture, music, writing, the costumes of theatres and temples, women, and food. It contrasts Japanese principles with the western ones that were increasingly influential in 1933, and asks if progress is necessarily good, particularly when it’s imported from another culture.


Image: “The beauty of a Japanese room depends on a variation of shadows, heavy shadows against light shadows” - that’s why there are so few ornaments. (Source.)

Dark and Light, East and West

“How different everything would be if we in the Orient had developed our own science.”

It’s not just a matter of taste. Tanizaki sees the differences arising from the landscape and the people themselves, giving rise to different paths of development - a cultural butterfly effect.

He explains how the fountain pen, "an insignificant little piece of writing equipment", was invented in the west, so there is no brush, no gentle seeping of black ink, and different paper is required. It makes writing a viscerally different experience, and its adoption in the east triggered suggestions to replace characters with Roman script, and will inevitably influence the type of literature Japanese writers write.


Image: You can now buy hybrid cartridge-filled brush pens. (Source.)

But I was challenged by the conclusions of this self-described Oriental that the fundamental reason for Japanese preference for dark and shadows was skin colour: how light plays on Japanese skin which, though pale, is "tainted by a slight cloudiness" akin to dirt in a clear pool. He even empathises with “pure-blooded whites” upset by the sight of those with other skin tones!

Protect Difference or Accept Hegemony?

In a broader sense, this is a topical question, nearly a century after it was written. How do we balance embracing the richness of other cultures with maintaining the essence of their distinct identities?

Tanizaki observes fundamental differences between east and west, and he doesn’t want to erase them, though he accepts some of the conveniences that come from afar.

I remember travelling in China in 2008, being struck by how different the fashion and cosmetic ads were compared with my previous trip in 1992. They all used the palest, least Chinese-looking models - apart from those that used western models. It’s one thing desiring western products, but wanting to look like a different race is tragic - except for the burgeoning cosmetic surgery sector, with specialisms in eye-surgery, skin whitening, and even leg lengthening.

Darkness to Enhance Other Senses

“Our cooking depends upon shadows and is inseparable from darkness.”

I once went to a restaurant whose USP was eating in total darkness. It was an experience like no other, and flavours were surprisingly hard to identify. I relished the novelty, and the enhanced sensations of shape and texture. That’s not a viable option day to day, but eating in more normal low-light, and without the distractions of cluttered walls, and background music certainly engages one more in the food itself. Conversely, too many dinners in front of the TV, where you barely notice what you eat, let alone how much, surely contribute to the obesity problem.

Tanizaki is at his most lyrical when writing about aged lacquerware in traditional low light (see quotes below):
“Only in dim half-light is the true beauty of Japanese lacquerware revealed.”


Image: Ōnishi Isao, a traditional lacquerware craftsman works by candlelight. (Source.)

Quotes

In places, this reads almost like poetry, but is by a novelist who was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964: Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.

•t“The Japanese toilet is truly 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.”

•t“Japanese paper gives us a certain feeling of warmth, of calm and repose… Western paper turns away the light, while our paper seems to take it in, to envelop it gently, like the soft surface of a first snowfall. It gives off no sound when it is crumpled or folded, it is quiet and pliant to the touch as the leaf of a tree.”

•t“We find it hard to be really at home with things that shine and glitter. The Westerner uses silver and steel and nickel tableware, and polishes it to a fine brilliance… We begin to enjoy it only when the luster has worn off, when it has begun to take on a dark, smoky patina.

•t“We do not dislike everything that shines, but we do prefer a pensive luster to a shallow brilliance, a murky light that, whether in a stone or an artifact, bespeaks a sheen of antiquity.”

•t“Darkness is an indispensable element of the beauty of lacquerware… [Traditional lacquerware] was finished in black, brown, or red, colors built up of countless layers of darkness, the inevitable product of the darkness in which life was lived.”

•t“In the Gothic cathedral of the West, the roof is thrust up and up so as to place its pinnacle as high in the heavens as possible… In the temples of Japan, on the other hand, a roof of heavy tiles is first laid out, and in the deep, spacious shadows created by the eaves the rest of the structure is built.”

•t“Japanese music is above all a music of reticence, of atmosphere… In conversation, too, we prefer the soft voice, the understatement. Most important of all are the pauses.”

•t“Light is used not for reading and writing or sewing but for dispelling the shadows in the farthest corners, and this runs against the basic idea of the Japanese room.”

•t“So dilute is the light there that no matter what the season, on fair days or cloudy, morning, midday, or evening, the pale, white glow scarcely varies. And the shadows at the interstices of the ribs seem strangely immobile, as if dust collected in the corners had become a part of the paper itself. I blink in uncertainty at this dreamlike luminescence, feeling as though some misty film were blunting my vision.”

•t“The color of that ‘darkness seen by candlelight.’ It was different in quality from darkness on the road at night. It was a repletion, a pregnancy of tiny particles like fine ashes, each particle luminous as a rainbow.”

Themes

After reading this, I discovered a different edition labels 16 sections. I couldn’t actually work out where all the section breaks would go, so I’m glad I read it as one continuous piece. All the themes are covered, but not solely in this sequence:

1.tOn construction
2.tThe toilet aesthetic
3.tA different course
4.tA novelist's daydreams
5.tOn paper, tin and dirt
6.tCandlelight and lacquerware
7.tBowls of broth
8.tThe enigma of shadows
9.tAn uncanny silence
10.tReflections in darkness
11.tShadows on the stage
12.tThe woman of old
13.tBeauty in the dark
14.tA world of shadows
15.tA cool breeze in total darkness
16.tFinal grumblings

See also

•tThe only fiction I've read by Tanizaki also switches between cold light and very dark. See my review of The Tattooer, HERE.

•tFor a collection of mini reviews of stories about people and their shadows in European tales, see my review of Hans Christian Andersen's The Shadow, HERE.

Ko nesimato - nėra.
Tanizakis yra vienas mano mėgstamiausių rašytojų ever. Patvirkę diedukai, klastingos marčios, vyrai draskomi prieštaringų jausmų ir užgaidų, etc etc, na, dievinu aš tokią fuckery. Ši knygutė - iš esmės trumpas esė - apie tamsos ir šešėlių svarbą rytų ir ypač japonų kultūroje ir estetikoje, man buvo be galo įdomi, bet gal tik kiek trumpoka.
Na ir šioks toks mėginukas - ko gero tik Tanizakis sugebėjo pradėti savo traktatą nuo tradicinio lauko šikiniko estetinių privalumų aptarimo ir baigti va tokia simbolių ir metaforų kupina moters analize.
"Kadaise savo esė "Išioano užrašai" jau esu rašęs, kad šiuolaikiniai žmonės seniai įpratę prie elektros lempučių šviesos ir užmiršo kada nors buvus šitokią tamsą. Ypač "plika akimi matoma tamsa", kurioje lengva kilti haliucinacijoms, neva ten kažin kas mirgąs, ir kuri kartais yra gūdesnė už tamsą lauke. Ko gero, visokios pabaisos ir piktosios dvasios veikdavo tokioje tamsybėje, bet ar storomis užuolaidomis, keliais širmų ir pertvarų sluoksniais patamsyje aptvertos moterys vis dėlto nebuvo tų pabaisų pasiuntinės? Tamsa tas moteris susupdavo į dešimtis ir dvidešimtis sluoksnių, užpildydavo menkiausius plyšelius nuo apykaklės ir rankogalių iki valkčio siūlių. O gal net priešingai, tą tamsą jos nelyginant voras voratinklį išspjaudavo iš savo kūnų, iš burnos juodai nudažytais dantimis ir juodų plaukų galiukų."
Yummy.

P.S. Ir ne, Tanizakis nebuvo mizoginistas.

Tanizaki nin estetik algısı hakkında ve japon kültürü üzerine kısacık bir kitap. Kurgu dışı sevmeyen bana bile okuttu kendini :)

japonlar hakkinda kulturel olarak alisagelmis seyler disinda cok az sey bilirdim bu kitapla cok kisa da olsa bir giris yapmis oldum. tanizaki'de karanlik ve golge kullanimi ile ilgili olarak japonya'da ki sanati, mimariyi, tarihi kisacasi hayati bize anlatiyor. zaten merak edip istiyordum ama yine de japon mimarisini ve sanati hakkinda daha fazla kitap okuma ve arastirma yapmaya tesvik etti diyebilirim.

Tanizaki Gölgeye Övgü'de, geleneksel Japon estetik anlayışının her alanda gölgenin o tatlı loşluğuna gizlenerek nasıl çekici nüanslar yarattığını muhteşem bir üslûpla tasvir etmiş. Zaman zaman abartılı ya da aykırı bulunabilecek karşılaştırmalar ya da anlatımlar olsa da gölgenin sunduğu hoş loşluğun, serinliğin özlemini tümüyle hissettiriyor.
Modern aydınlatmanın Doğu'ya, Japonya'ya özgü o güzel loşluğu yavaş yavaş nasıl erittiğini hissetmek hüzün veriyor.
Tanizaki kelimelere hâkim usta bir yazar.
Muhteşem bir deneyimdi Gölgeye Övgü.

Το εγκώμιο της σκιάς ή η ελεγεία της Ομορφιάς στην Ιαπωνία

Ένα μικρό μπιζού καλαισθησίας και γούστου που χώρεσε στη μικρή μου τσάντα για μια μέρα και ο νους μου έτρεχε συνεχώς εκεί, να το ανοίξω με κάθε ευκαιρία και να συνεχίσει την επίδραση της γοητείας του πάνω μου. Η σημερινή μου Δευτέρα δεν έμοιαζε με μια απλή Δευτέρα. Ήμουν απλά κάπου αλλού. Ένιωσα κάπως αλλιώς.

Αν ποτέ βρεθώ στην Ιαπωνία, θα έχω σίγουρα μαζί μου αυτό το βοήθημα. Γιατί για βοήθημα πρόκειται. Αυτό που θα συμπληρώσει την οποιαδήποτε ξερή και κρύα ξενάγηση, το οποιοδήποτε άνευ νοήματος βλέμμα πάνω σε τέμπλα, τεϊοποτεία και σημεία.
Αυτό το βιβλίο ήταν για μένα: λατρεύω τις λεπτομέρειες, είναι αυτές που καμιά φορά θα παρατηρήσω και θα απογειώσουν ή θα καταστρέψουν ένα τοπίο, έναν χώρο, μια γωνιά.

Με τις περιγραφές του συγγραφέα και τις εξιστορήσεις φίλων που βρέθηκαν εκεί συνδυαστικά, μπορώ εύκολα να γίνω japanese-bathroom fetichist. Πριν μπω, θα βγάλω αθόρυβα τα παπούτσια μου και θα μπω μέσα ξυπόλυτη ακροπατώντας ώστε να νιώσω την αίσθηση του ξύλου στις πατούσες μου· θα αφήσω το φως που διαπερνά το ρυζόχαρτο να με θωπεύσει.

Ο συγγραφέας με έκανε κοινωνό μιας ατμοσφαιρικότητας και μιας ευαίσθητης ματιάς πάνω στον ορισμό της ομορφιάς και του μεγαλείου της μέσα από φωτοσκιάσεις που προέρχονται από το σκοτάδι κι όχι από το φως. Εκτιμώ την κρυφή ομορφιά, την προς ανακάλυψη, τη διακριτική παρουσία της. Αυτή που δε δίνεται στο πιάτο, αυτή που είναι φυσικά συγκαλυμμένη, αυτή που χρειάζεται λίγο να επικεντρωθείς περισσότερο για να την παρατηρήσεις και που όταν σου αποκαλύπτεται μένεις με τη σαγήνη και τη γοητεία της ανακάλυψής σου κι έτσι την χαίρεσαι περισσότερο, τέρψη των αισθήσεων και ταυτόχρονα εγκεφαλική.

Διακρίνεται εύκολα η απόλυτη ανάγκη που έχει ο Τανιζάκι να φυλακίσει μια για πάντα την ομορφιά της Ιαπωνικής κουλτούρας στις σελίδες του, διαισθανόμενος την καλπάζουσα απειλή της Δύσης και απαριθμώντας πονεμένα τις «απώλειές της λόγω δανείου από τους δυτικούς». Μπορείς εύκολα να πειστείς ότι ναι, είναι επιθετική η καθαρότητα της απόλυτα λευκής καλογυαλισμένης επιφάνειας σε σύγκριση με την αρμονία της σκοτεινιάς που αποκτούν τα αντικείμενα με την πατίνα του χρόνου πάνω τους. Υπάρχει πολύς ρομαντισμός στο βιβλιαράκι αυτό, από πολλές σκοπιές που δεν το περίμενα. Δηλώνω γοητευμένη.

Στον Τανιζάκι κερδίζει το σκοτάδι κι όχι το φως. Κι εγώ είμαι μαζί του.