Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, “The Tattooer”
(78-84)
Tanizaki Jun’ichiro:
·
1886-1965
·
“No
other Japanese writer has quite his combination of copious imagination, deadly
stylistic pitch, and sensitivity to the historical past, not to mention a
wicked sense of humor” (78).
·
Published
his final novel at seventy six.
·
He
was Japan’s favorite literary enfant terrible, which means he was unconventional
and wrote ideas that shocked, embarrassed, or annoyed others.
·
He
was born into a merchant family in the old commercial quarter of Tokyo.
·
He
wrote what many called demonic fiction. This was tales of sexual obsession,
masochism. He covered themes like obsession, desire, dominance, submission,
fetishism.
“The
Tattooer”:
·
We
see a Tattooer’s obsession (or secret pleasure) with inflicting pain.
·
Set
in the Edo Period (1603-1867): brothel districts and theaters of major cities
put into a culture.
·
Themes:
Secret desires, shifting tides of domination and submission, and construing
creativity. This can be both considered in a sexual manner and in an entirely
different way, a manner of control in the fact that the Tattooer is a slave to
his work.
Quotes:
·
Signs
of the Edo period: “Visitors to the pleasure quarters of Edo preferred to hire
palanquin bearers who were splendidly tattooed; courtesans of the Yoshiwara and
the Tatsumi quarter fell in love with tattooed men” (80). Being tattooed in
this time was important so the Tattooer would have many people to inflict pain
upon. The Yoshiwara and Tatsumi quarter were two brothel districts in the Edo
period.
·
Tattooer’s
name: Seikichi. Secret pleasure example: “His pleasure lay in the agony men
felt as he drove his needles into them, torturing their swollen, blood-red flesh;
and the louder they groaned, the keener was Seikichi’s strange delight. Shading
and vermilioning-these are said to be especially painful-were the techniques he
most enjoyed” (80). It was so painful to the point people collapsed at his feet
half-dead.
·
The
Tattooer wished to tattoo the skin of the most beautiful women. He waited for
years for this to happen. This shows his commitment to his obsession: “Several
years had passed without success, and yet the face and figure of the perfect
women continued to obsess his thoughts. He refused to abandon hope” (81).
·
“To
make you truly beautiful I have poured my soul into this tattoo. Today there is
no woman in Japan to compare with you. Your old fears are gone. All men will be
your victims” (83). He gave her a spider tattoo as if to represent the power of
her beauty, like she has all men in her clutches like the spider has her in its clutches. For example, “You must be suffering. The spider has you in its
clutches” (83).
·
He
was her first victim in men being her victims: “All my fears have been swept
away-and you are my first victim” (84).
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