Session 19—Tu, March 20: Abe Kōbō and his Woman in the Dunes (1963)

Topics for this session

❖ Abe Kōbō—biography & concepts (including basic tenets of Communism)
❖ Abe Kōbō—Woman in the Dunes (1963)

Thoughts*

Here are a few basic positions of communism relevant to our understanding of Abe:

It is concerned with the material conditions of life because consciousness is tied to material conditions
It is interested in class and one's role in production
It asserts that change away from the current economic system is possible
And that such historical change will take the shape of class struggle
It can be seen as on side of working class

And here is a good article about Abe's relationship to Communism: "The Literature and Politics of Abe Kōbō: Farewell to Communism in Suna no Onna" (JSTOR stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2385547

Required—to be completed for today's session

✓ Read Woman of the Dunes. Special note for Spring 2012: This is a book that needs more than one day. But in trying to fit in Heisei materials, I have solved the crowded schedule by squeezing this relatively long book into one day and warning students ahead of time to get started. I could do that because on the old calendar this day occured immediately after Spring Break. BUT, this year this day comes before Spring Break and it is very difficult to read in full. So, I would like everyone to read read the work in full but if that means skimming so be it. Read a least a portion of it with your usual care.

(✓) Optional read: The very short, famous, and quirky story The Stick [bSpace, PDF]

Texts, multimedia notes, links*

❖ Abe Kobo [bSpace, PPT]
◊ Animated rendition of Abe's "The Box Man" [YouTube, video clip]
◊ Very brief clip from a film based on Abe's "The Face of Another (Tanin no kao)" (directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1966) [YouTube, video clip]
◊ Clip from a film based on Abe's "Woman in the Dunes (Suna no onna)" (directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1964) [YouTube, video clip]
◊ Sometimes I read excerpts from the story "The Crime of S. Karma" as translated in Beyond the Curve, trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter, Kodansha International, 1991, pp 35–42. This story is on bSpace as "Abe S Karma's Crime"

Other*

These seem to all have been constructed by the same scholar, Mark Gibeau:

◊ Extensive Web site that include biography, biography and summaries of some of his stories, done in 2002 it seems: ibiblio.org Abe Kobo web pages (clicking on this site now seems to open a number of pop-up advertisements)
◊ Some manuscripts and personal affects, including the tire chains he invented: Exhibition at Tyohu City
◊ From the same site as above: Extended interview with his daughter

◊ Many of Abe's works were made into films and many of these film trailers can be found on YouTube, along with other Abe video material.

*THOUGHTS: Reading before class probably helps follow session content, reading afterwards might help consolidate notes, revisiting for tests is recommended. Content might be added before class or anytime up until about 24 hours ahead of a midterm.

*TEXTS, MULTIMEDIA NOTES, LINKS: If I have read from something, shown something or presented audio, I usually include that information here. If I consider it testable material, it will definitely be listed here. Miscellaneous material that I show may or may not be listed. I often add material at the last minute and hope to have time later to note it, but often cannot.

*OTHER: When possible I note here names, places, and other details that I have mentioned in a lecture that would otherwise not be accessible in the assigned materials or easily located on your own. As with "TEXTS ..." this is usually sometime after class and, again, I might not be able to get around to doing it.