Japanese Literature - Essay Example

The four main principles of Keene help us in understanding the aesthetic appeal of Japanese literature more vividly. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that is related with the appreciation of things as they affect our physical senses and especially affecting in a pleasurable way. According to the first principle of Keene, which is suggestion, the Japanese artists and writers wanted to suggest things rather than expressing it completely. The writers never expressed a climax like in Western writing but gave an appealing beginning and end tot heir work without giving a proper reasoning.

For example, the literary works about love does not describe much about the meeting of a man and women but explains about the yearning and longing in the minds of lover to meet each other. In the times of Kenko, the Japanese literature applied the principles of suggestion to great length .They tried to be imaginative and expressed the beauty of nature with single strokes of paining rather than filling up the canvas with colors. A second important characteristic of Japanese aesthetics is the element of irregularity .

By this it means that, one cannot find uniformity in the artistic work of Japanese works. Japanese writers and artists believed that, uniformity spoiled the uniqueness of the work and also created disinterest in the person who is enjoying the writings or artistic work. The principle of irregularity implies that making a work irregular gives much space for the reader‘s to enhance their imaginative power .The incompleteness element of the literary works prompted the readers to long for completeness and for this they use their creative and imaginative power to a great extend.

“The Japanese have been partial not only to incompleteness but to another variety of irregularity also called asymmetry. This is one respect in which they differ conspicuously from the Chinese and other peoples of Asia”(Keene,10). Simplicity is another principle of Keene which was highly reflected in the earlier works of Japanese literature. The poets and writers of ancient Japan believed in the simple beauty of nature which his subtle and serene. One of the poem which exemplifies the principle of Simplicity is the furu ike ya(the ancient Pond) kawazu tobikomu (A frog leaps in) mizu no oto (The sound of the water).

Here the poet describe about the eternity of the pond as well as the sound which is created by frog as it jumps in water. This is such a simplified form of expressing the subtle beauty of nature which normal men forget to notice or perceive.Kenko is one writer who insisted on the element of simplicity and he claims that only wise men can be simple in his thoughts, expression and lifestyle. One another concept of simplicity in Japanese culture is the tea ceremony which is artistically carried out by Japanese since ages.

Kenko believed that simplicity is sometimes more expensive than ornateness and is a luxury concealed in luxury. Last but not he least is the principle of perishability , where in the Japanese artists and writes saw the sadness evolved around the destructive aspect of nature. Persihability is that truth of life which