Human-animal studies has long constituted a branch of Western literary and cultural theory, and it has begun to take root within Asian studies. I propose to present some thoughts on two works of modern Japanese literature that integrate birds as a technique for elucidating human formulations of identity and difference. Bunchō (Finch, or Literary Bird, 1908) is an essayistic story by Natsume Sōseki When a lonely professor-writer acquires a lovely little bird as a domestic companion, it awakens memories of a beautiful woman for whom he pines. The man tries to coax the finch into responding affectionately to him, but the bird demurs. By the end, the writer has lost both woman and bird. The narrative dramatizes the instability of self-other distinctions, and the challenges of communication across species, gender, and class lines. Haguredaka (Raptor’s Departure, 2005 ~ 2007), a hefty novel by Kumagai Tatsuya, features a fierce raptor called a kumataka (mountain hawk-eagle). This giant avian species has been used in a type of falcon-hunting practiced in northeastern Japan. The novel’s descriptions of the human-bird bond seem designed to dismantle the anthropomorphic perspective on which literary representations of human-animal relations are often premised. Haguredaka traces the developmental process of a young man apprenticed to a renowned falcon master. The youth employs the language of romantic desire to articulate and deepen his bond with his bird. Haguredaka envisions the satisfaction that humans can potentially experience in alternative relationships when they develop skill in communing with nonhuman animals.

Authors:
Maryellen Mori, Independent Scholar, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Maryellen Toman Mori is an independent scholar of Japanese literature. She is especially interested in Japanese women's literature, gender studies, erotic literature, human-animal studies, and religious themes in modern literature. She has recently completed a book on Tamura Toshiko (1884-1945). Her current research project concerns the representation of birds in modern Japanese literature.

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