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Osamu Dazai (author), Sam Bett (translator), The Flowers of Buffoonery, New Directions, 2023. 63 pgs.
The Flowers of Buffoonery (『道化の華』/ Dōke no Hana), an early work by Osamu Dazai (太宰治, 1909-1948) first written in 1931 and published in 1935, is a quintessential I-novel, a genre of confessional literature that may initially seem unconventional to those unfamiliar with modern Japanese literary traditions. The plot is straightforward, centring on Yozo Oba,[1] a survivor of a failed double suicide attempt with a married woman, and his subsequent four-day hospitalisation, surrounded by friends. Noteworthy, however, is the intervention of the first-person narrator, a self-declared author of the tale, who candidly “confesses” his bewilderment about the continuation of the narrative.
The story commences with a first-person narrative from Yozo Oba, who reveals that all his friends have abandoned him. However, in the subsequent paragraph, the narrative unexpectedly shifts from Yozo Oba to a nameless self-proclaimed writer who claims to be rereading the lines he has just written and reflecting on them. Towards the end of the same chapter, the writer discloses his reason for abandoning the first-person perspective: his previous work, written earlier that spring, also employed this narrative style.
As the story continues to unfold, the writer appears to lose confidence in his craft. In the third chapter, for instance, he seems dejected, lamenting that his novel “has at last begun to lose its marbles”. In another chapter, he expresses his self-loathing by rhetorically questioning whether he is merely a third-rate novelist. Additionally, he agonises over the narrative diverging from his initial plan to create an “atmospheric romance”. The pervasive intervention of the first-person narrator in the storytelling becomes so dominant that the frame narrative overshadows the inner story itself.
Despite the narrator’s assertion that the story is second-hand and his denial of it being a record of his personal experience, it remains tempting for some readers to associate The Flowers of Buffoonery, where the writer relentlessly confesses his failed attempts to craft the ideal story, with Dazai’s almost pathological ambition to win the Akutagawa Literary Award, a pursuit that began in 1935. This story, along with his other work “Gyakkō” (or “Losing Ground”), was nominated for the prize but was ultimately rejected by Yasunari Kawabata (川端康成, 1899–1972), a committee member at the time. Kawabata criticised Dazai’s decadent lifestyle, describing it as being shrouded in “disagreeable clouds”, which he believed hindered Dazai’s ability to fully display his talent.[2] In response to Kawabata’s comments, Dazai penned “To Kawabata Yasunari” in the magazine Bungei Tsūshin, where he expressed his discontent and elucidated the background and rationale of The Flowers of Buffoonery.[3] The essay, when read together with his act of writing a letter directly to another committee member, Satō Haruo, the following year to express his yearning for the award,[4] might echo the narrator’s desperately tenacious attempts to write what he believes to be a good story.
The decadent lifestyle of Osamu Dazai, as highlighted by Yasunari Kawabata, is not without foundation. Like Yozo Oba in the story, Dazai attempted a double suicide with a barmaid in Kamakura at the age of twenty-one, nearly the same year he wrote The Flowers of Buffoonery. The visit of Yozo’s older brother to the hospital, as well as his mediation with the husband of the woman who died alongside Yozo in their attempted suicide, also mirrors events from Dazai’s own life.
Yet, the similarities between the protagonist and Osamu Dazai should not be seen as the story’s final destination. More importantly, one should question why Dazai simultaneously infuses his biographical details into the narrative while openly misleading the reader by claiming the story is second-hand. Donald Keene refutes the notion of Dazai being a “faithful chronicler of his own life”[5] by citing examples of how the writer repeatedly depicts his love suicide attempt in various ways between 1932 and 1948, including in The Flowers of Buffoonery and No Longer Human (1948), the latter being Dazai’s most renowned work.
Instead of the writer recounting Yozo Oba’s love suicide attempt, No Longer Human is composed of three sets of notebooks written by the eponymous character Yozo Oba. Consistent with the preface, a nameless narrator “confesses” to the reader that these notebooks were obtained from a barmaid working at a Kyōbashi bar. Unlike in The Flowers of Buffoonery, in this context, the narrator claims that the old tale set in 1931 is published as it is because he fears that he will “clumsily add with [his] pen”[6] unnecessary details. Therefore, rather than faithfully representing his own life in the stories, Dazai manipulates his biographical experience to portray a decadent lifestyle where his protagonists are often bar-goers, alcoholics, and engage in various sexual relationships. This also elucidates why Dazai is associated with the School of Decadence (or Buraiha 無頼派[7]).
Hiroshi Andō suggests that Osamu Dazai’s manipulation of his own biographical details in The Flowers of Buffoonery is not coincidental but a method of constructing a performative self within the Japanese fictional world of the modern period. While the plot of a suicide attempt aligns with the increase in suicides during the 1930s, Andō sharply connects the word “Marxism” with the rise of the left wing in the same era.[8] However, this notion is never taken seriously in the story. Instead, the nameless writer quotes a line from Kosuge, a friend of Yozo, stating “I blame that newfangled philosophy. Marxism,” which he derides as “a fabulously silly line of dialogue”. Therefore, the term “buffoonery” (or 道化 / dōke) not only signifies the humorous interactions between Yozo and his acquaintances, as Andō suggests, but also encompasses the performance of the first-person narrator. The original Japanese word dōke is relevant to Kabuki theatre,[9] suggesting that the narrator can also be seen as an actor within the story, portraying a writer who fails to write a story.
Anglophone readers are often more familiar with Osamu Dazai’s later works, particularly No Longer Human, rather than his early ones. Therefore, encountering Sam Bett’s English translation of The Flowers of Buffoonery is refreshing, and one hopes that more translations of Dazai’s earlier works will reach a global audience in the future. The English version is impeccably executed, with the translator clearly having carefully considered their word choices before final publication. However, the section heading of randomly arranged Japanese hiragana might initially estrange readers unfamiliar with the oriental language and foreign culture. Bilingual readers, on the other hand, may find it confusing since this specific section heading does not seem to appear in any original publication. The translator may owe readers an explanation for this choice.
Otherwise, Sam Bett has done a great job in introducing an important piece by Osamu Dazai. Readers interested in the Japanese writer can read both The Flowers of Buffoonery and No Longer Human, appreciating these classic Japanese works more fully through comparison and contrast.
Bibliography
Andō, Hiroshi (2015). “Watashi”o tsukuru. Iwanami Shisho.
Dazai, Osamu (2015[1988]). Dazai Osamu Zenshū 1. Chikuma Bunko.
— (2015[1989]). Dazai Osamu Zenshū 9. Chikuma Bunko.
— (2015[1989]). Dazai Osamu Zenshū 10. Chikuma Bunko.
JapanKnowledgeLib. [https://japanknowledge.com/lib/display/?lid=200202f6f55a8fD5596t] (Web, accessed on June 15, 2024)
Keene, Donald (1998). Dawn to the West. Columbia University Press.
Yoshida, Etsushi (2008). Kimi ni kataru. DTP.
[1] It is more common for Yozo Oba to be spelled as Yōko Ōba (大庭葉蔵). However, for consistency, this review will use the former spelling chosen by the translator.
[2] The original message reads: “作家の生活に厭な雲ありて、才能の素直に発せざる憾みがあった”. cf. Yoshida Etsushi (2008). “Makai no piero—Dazai Osamu” in Kimi ni kataru. DTP., pp. 88-89.
[3] Dazai Osamu (2015[1989)]). “Kawabata Yasunari e” in Dazai Osamu Zenshū 10. Chikuma Bunko., 75-78.
[4] Yoshida Etsushi (2008). op cit., 89-90.
[5] Donald Keene (1998). “Dazai Osamu and the Burai-Ha” in Dawn to the West. Columbia University Press, 1027-1028.
[6] Dazai Osamu (2015[1989]). “Ningen Shikkau” in Dazai Osamu Zenshū 9. Chikuma Bunko., 500.
[7] Dazai Osamu employs the furigana “riberutan,” a transliteration of the French word “libertin,” instead of “decadence” when he asserts his original identity as a scoundrel or “burai” (無頼) in “Henji” (1936). Unlike the word “decadent,” which emphasizes a gradual process of deterioration, its counterpart “libertin” connotes dissolute life, or unrestrained moral and sexual behavior in a person. See Dazai Osamu., “Henji” in Dazai Osamu Zenshū 10. Chikuma Bunko., 372.
[8] Andō Hiroshi (2015). “Watashi”o tsukuru. Iwanami Shisho., 101-102.
[9] Dōke. JapanKnowledgeLib. [https://japanknowledge.com/lib/display/?lid=200202f6f55a8fD5596t] (Web, accessed on 15 June 2024)
How to cite: Au, James Kin-Pong. “Constructing a Performative Self: Osamu Dazai’s The Flowers of Buffoonery.” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 7 Jul. 2024, chajournal.blog/2024/07/07/buffoonery.
James Kin-Pong Au is a Master’s graduate of both Hong Kong Baptist University and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Tokyo, writing his dissertation about the relation between history and literature through close readings of East Asian historical narratives in the 1960s. His research interests include Asian literatures, comparative literature, historical narratives and modern poetry. During his leisure time, he writes poetry and learns Spanish, Korean and Polish. He teaches English at Salesio Polytechnic College and literature in English at Tama Art University. [All contributions by James Kin-Pong Au.]