Take a photo of a barcode or cover
bookmateriality 's review for:
Naomi
by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
I write this with my experience as an Asian woman and my connection to South Korea in mind; but the broader fascination of the West that presents itself in Naomi is something that piqued my interest in this novel. A cursory examination of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s Naomi will undoubtedly perturb readers: a novel that centres on the protagonist Joji’s unhealthy obsession with 15-year-old Naomi. Yes, people have likened it to Lolita. This is, thematically, an easy way to draw parallels between the two works, but this is not enough. The two should be able to stand alone in their literary value. Some may start to loathe both characters as a psychological tit-for-tat unravels between the two, but I have come to realise that reading for pleasure might involve suspending your deconstructive skills. However, my English major and English teacher self couldn’t help but analyse and read into all the intricacies of this novel. And whilst I think it is okay to read for immersion; equally, it is the broader concepts and ideas that can be taken away from a novel that can only make us better readers and humans. Naomi was Tanizaki’s first fiction novel and the original title, Chijin no Ai, translates into A Fool's Love. Very loosely, the novel is about the protagonist’s obsessive fascination with Naomi. Naomi epitomises what Joji sees as the Western idealisation of beauty, seeking to mould her into the perfect image of western influences, through fashion, beauty, Western bodily ideals and form, dancing, and learning English. Naomi has the “majestic physique of a Westerner”, her hands are not weak and fragile, she has covetable white skin. There is a laugh-out-loud section in the novel where Naomi talks of doing the laundry and if she was to engage in this her fingers would get fat: “…I won’t be able to play the piano. What is it you called me? Your treasure? What’ll you do if my hands get all fat?” And this is precisely what makes Naomi a stand-alone. It is the mocking and satirical humour of Tanizaki that I think gets lost in people’s aversion to the content of the novel. Much of the critique that Tanizaki is alluding to is as important to understand what he is trying to achieve aesthetically in Naomi. Joji as the narrator is self-referential and metafictional – he directly addresses his readers and preempts our reactions. As the novel progresses, the powerplay between Naomi and Joji amplifies and Joji realises the manipulation and deception of Naomi – that he cannot fashion her into his own image and she cannot be ‘pinned’ down so easily and arguably acts autonomously of Joji’s flattery and objectification. He oscillates from derision and aversion to enchantment, which may irritate the reader, but I think ultimately makes the novel so attune to the psychological. I could continue to pick apart the novel and I have only brushed the surface, but read this is you’re interested in 1920s Japan, power relations between the genders, the psychology of relationships, body fetishisation, egos, jealousy, reconstructing and rethinking bodies…