No Longer Human - Minumsa World Literature Collection 103

Author Dazai Osamu · Publisher Minumsa · Published 2004-05-18 · ISBN 9788937461033

About the Book

Dazai Osamu’s No Longer Human has been published by Minumsa. Dazai Osamu was a representative author of modern Japanese literature who passed away at the young age of 39 in 1948, leaving a profound impact on Japanese society. No Longer Human depicts the process by which a young man with a delicate heart, who yearned only for purity, is destroyed by the hypocrisy and cruelty of others. It received enthusiastic support from young people in post-war Japan, with The New York Times stating, “Few writers are as skilled as Dazai in exposing human weakness.” Also included in this collection is “The Setting Sun,” which re-examines the human side of Judas from Dazai's unique perspective.

The portrait of a young man whose very purity led to his downfall.
No Longer Human consists of a preface and epilogue narrated by “I,” and three notebooks written by the protagonist of the work, Yozo. The preface features three photographs of Yozo, and the eerie atmosphere of the person in the photos, “as if he had just squatted down and warmed his hands over the brazier, then died right there,” sets the overall mood of the work. Yozo, who could not understand other “humans” since birth, tries to assimilate into their world by playing the “clown,” but repeatedly fails, eventually becoming addicted to drugs and attempting suicide. However, after repeated suicide attempts in which only the woman dies and he alone survives, Yozo is disowned even by his family, his last hope, and becomes a "disqualified human being," awaiting death alone in an isolated country house.

A work that reflects the hypocrisy and cruelty of human society through an individual.
Yoshimoto Banana and Murakami Haruki, representative authors of modern Japanese literature who enjoy enthusiastic support not only in Japan but also worldwide, both cite Dazai Osamu as the Japanese author they most respect. Dazai is also known as a member of the "Buraiha" (Decadent School) and is still considered a leading figure in Japanese decadent literature. Dazai's decadence should not be interpreted as mere aestheticism but rather in conjunction with Japan's unique post-war situation. In other words, as the values, ethics, and morality of the older generation collapsed with the defeat, Dazai's (from the perspective of the older generation) corruption and self-destructive behavior can be seen as a desperate struggle to reject everything belonging to the existing society and start anew from absolute nothingness. Some Dazai scholars analyze No Longer Human as a work that convincingly demonstrates how Yozo, alienated from the male-dominated world that forms the actual power of society when the world is divided into a male world belonging to the legal sphere and a female world belonging to the illegal sphere, ultimately becomes a disqualified human being who belongs to neither world. Few works reveal the falsehood and cruelty of the human world and social order, which are governed by calculation and reputation, as clearly as No Longer Human. This work, which is a record of the protagonist's defeat as he struggles to assimilate into society, entrusts his dreams to pure, untainted things, and attempts to woo humans, only to be betrayed by everything and become a disqualified human being, can in that sense be called a sharp indictment of modern society. The ugliness of the conventional human figures (at least they can exist proudly in this society), represented by Yozo's guardian 'Hirame' and his evil friend 'Horiki,' who are hypocritical human figures, urges us, who live insensitively steeped in the framework of this society, to reflect on ourselves.

“The Setting Sun,” which presents a new perspective of Judas as a weak human being
“The Setting Sun” describes Judas’s story as he denounces Jesus, as if the reader were present and listening to it themselves. Contrary to conventional interpretations, this work vividly portrays Judas's conflict and anguish, showing how his admiration and love for Jesus, when rejected, turned into anger and defiance, leading him to betray Jesus. The Bible does not explicitly record Judas as a traitor. Jesus tells Judas, "Go and do what you have to do." Judas may have been a human being set up for Jesus' glory. As François Mauriac said, if there were no Jesus, there would be no Judas’s anguish. In this work, Dazai projects himself onto both Jesus and Judas, but the portrayal of Judas as single-minded, jealous, and wavering between affection and hatred shows that Dazai's interest in Judas is far greater than his interest in Jesus. Judas's self-reproach, such as his decision to kill Jesus himself rather than hand him over to others because he loved him so much, and his statements like "Money. Money is everything in this world," and "I am probably a merchant. I chased after money, but when I realized it was hopeless, I betrayed him," are excellent psychological insights.

Table of Contents

No Longer Human
Preface
First Notebook
Second Notebook
Third Notebook
Epilogue

The Setting Sun

Work Commentary / Kim Chun-mi
Author Chronology