Lecture 1999-05-17

Junichiro Tanizaki Meets Thomas Hardy

Professor Joseph S. O'Leary

The realistic fiction of Junichiro Tanizaki has many dimensions. Long exposure to European fiction is one ingredient in his rich artistic vision. In this lecture, Professor O'Leary will compare his novella "A Portrait of Shunkin" to the story by Thomas Hardy which inspired it, "Barbara and the House of Grebe." By reversing the sado-masochistic dynamic of Hardy's tale, Tanizaki intended his novella to be a Japanese counterpart to Hardy's. Taking a Freudian perspective, Professor O'Leary will show that Tanizaki's spidery, shadowy style explores a distinctively Japanese intersection of the sexual and social.

Father Joseph S. O'Leary was born in Cork, Ireland. He taught theology at the University of Notre Dame and Duquesne University before moving to Japan in 1983. He has been teaching English Literature at Sophia University since 1988. His publications include theological works such as Questioning Back and Religious Pluralism and Christian Truth; in addition he has written extensively on James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.

Edited from material submitted by Dr. Joshua Dale.