Origins of Modern Japanese Literature by Kojin Karatani is a work of such immense theoretical rigor and historical complexity that to engage with it is to confront not merely the history of modern Japanese literature, but the very processes by which modernity itself, both in the East and West, has been constituted. This volume occupies a pivotal position in cultural and critical theory, demanding to be read not merely as a book about literature but as a profound critique of the epistemological and ideological foundations of modernity.
Karatani’s work situates itself at the confluence of history, philosophy, and aesthetics, offering a sweeping interrogation of 19th- and 20th-century Japanese literature. Yet, the scope of his analysis extends beyond the confines of the literary, challenging deeply ingrained notions about the state, the subject, and the cultural apparatuses that mediate human experience. His insights reconfigure concepts such as “origin,” “modernity,” “literature,” and “interiority” not as natural phenomena but as ideological constructs emerging from specific historical and cultural contingencies.
In Karatani’s hands, the development of modern Japanese literature becomes a lens through which to analyze the mechanisms of modernization and the colonizing effects of Western epistemologies on non-Western traditions. Karatani traces how seemingly universal categories—such as the “discovery” of landscape, the rise of confessional literature, or the emergence of childhood as an autonomous category—are deeply implicated in power dynamics and ideological formations. These constructs are not just cultural artifacts but are symptomatic of a broader modernity that displaces traditional modes of being and knowledge.
A central thesis of the book is the way modernity produces the illusion of interiority. For Karatani, the modern subject, with its depth and individuality, emerges not as an inherent human trait but as an effect of literary and cultural practices. This subjectivity, shaped by innovations in narrative and visual representation, is inseparable from broader historical shifts, such as the Meiji Restoration and the subsequent reorganization of Japanese society along Western lines. Through analyses of pivotal works by figures like Natsume Soseki, Karatani illustrates how these transformations occur at the level of form, language, and ideology, dismantling the binary opposition of West and non-West in favor of a more nuanced, dialectical understanding.
The “discovery” of landscape, for example, is not simply an artistic or cultural milestone but a phenomenon deeply tied to the ideological work of modernity. Karatani reveals how this discovery, seemingly a celebration of nature, is in fact a reflection of interiorized subjectivity, transforming the natural world into a mirror of human consciousness. Similarly, the romanticization of disease, particularly tuberculosis, becomes a metaphorical apparatus through which modern literature imbues suffering with meaning, linking physical decay to aesthetic transcendence. This mythologization, Karatani argues, is not merely a reflection of cultural attitudes but an active participant in the ideological construction of the modern self.
Karatani’s critique extends to the institutional frameworks that produce and sustain modernity. He examines the standardization of language, the rise of national literature, and the adoption of Western medical paradigms, showing how these processes erase alternative epistemologies while presenting themselves as universal truths. The Meiji period’s embrace of modernity, Karatani argues, was marked by the simultaneous suppression of nativist and premodern practices, a suppression that persists in the ideological underpinnings of contemporary Japanese identity.
This work is not merely an analysis of Japanese modernity; it is a radical intervention into the study of modernity itself. By exposing the contingent and constructed nature of concepts long considered universal, Karatani destabilizes the very foundations of Western theoretical paradigms. His approach disrupts the conventional binaries of modern/traditional and Western/non-Western, offering instead a vision of modernity as a space of inversion, displacement, and ideological reconfiguration.
The translation, under the editorial guidance of Brett de Bary, enriches the original text with critical context, making it accessible to Western readers while preserving its theoretical depth. With an incisive new essay by Karatani, “The Extinction of Genre,” this edition broadens the scope of the book’s arguments, further challenging readers to reconsider the premises of their own intellectual traditions.
Origins of Modern Japanese Literature is an indispensable text for anyone interested in literature, modernity, or critical theory. Its implications extend far beyond the study of Japanese culture, touching on questions central to the human condition: the construction of identity, the relationship between language and power, and the role of art in shaping our understanding of the world. To read Karatani is not merely to encounter a new perspective but to undergo a profound reorientation of thought, one that compels us to question the very ground on which our assumptions about modernity rest.
Simon Gros 
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