Loquacity  of  the  Body  and  its  Singular  Poetics  in  Yukio  Mishima’s  Taiyō  to  Tetsu  (Sun  and  Steel)*

Malvika Jayakumar

Authors

Malvika Jayakumar Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India

Keywords:

Postcritique, Mishima, Postcritique, Mishima, Body

Abstract

The body is often the receptacle for formulaic modes of literary criticism, whether as a template for political concepts like the Nation or as a physical reflection of inner turmoil or class struggle. This predictable modus operandi of literary criticism in viewing the body leaves limited space for exploring the material experiences of the body. The Cartesian mind-body binary in representing the body relegates the body to an inferior status. Japanese author Yukio Mishima rejects this conventional treatment of the body in his autobiographical essay Taiyō to Tetsu (1990), as he creates an aesthetic theory premised on the material body and syncretises body and spirit in his quest for perfection. While Mishima’s reputation is marred by his sadistic “…perversions and quasi-fascistic politics…especially after he committed ritual suicide,” this article, through a reading of his essay, strives to explore the postcritical turn in Mishima’s understanding of the body. Even while eliciting polarising reactions to his works and life, Mishima’s views on the material body strongly indicate a unique critical tradition (Piven, 2001, p. 771). Reading Mishima from this lens leads to complex questions about the role of the critic in unearthing fresh grounds for analysis and the possibility for gleaning unique ideas from the text.

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