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A review by mldias
Naomi by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
4.0
Naomi is a character so controversial that she spawned a social movement in Japan: Naomi-ism. She represented a sea change in the state of Japanese womanhood, a shift from timidness to temerity, a strong pull toward Western mores and fashions.
However, for all her archetypal significance, Naomi is not likable. Neither, for that matter, is Jōji. They are the unfortunate byproducts of a society of split cultural allegiances--some clinging to traditional Japanese expectations and others siphoning off the glitziest bits of Western culture. Jōji is simultaneously seduced and repulsed by this. He finds Naomi's Western name and appearance fascinating, yet clings to the belief that "Japanese should marry Japanese." Yet he spends hours each day drilling Naomi on her English lessons, sometimes resorting to verbal abuse when she misspeaks. He is a ball of cultural confusion.
Naomi is more (or, perhaps more accurately, less) than a symbol of Westernization. She is also cunning, promiscuous, manipulative, deceitful, and disloyal. However, because we witness this strange marriage through Jōji's eyes only, we can only guess at the depths of his neurosis. This is a man who fantasizes about crawling around with Naomi on his back like a child riding a horse, who takes her in at age fifteen to "raise her" with the intention of one day marrying her. There is a decidedly unnerving father-daughter dynamic between them (Naomi calls him "Papa"). However, despite having been cuckolded on countless occasions, Jōji is hardly a victim, as evidenced by the following scene: "I hadn't expected her to be so quick to beg forgiveness. Taken by surprise, I grew even more enraged. I began to pummel her with my fists" (170).
Like "La Confession Impudique" (known as "The Key" in English), "Naomi" peels away layers of artifice to expose marital nitty-gritty. It is the novel that put Tanizaki on the map. The narrative traverses the peaks and valleys of this strange, dysfunctional relationship, never falling into the trap of vilifying one spouse to sanctify the other.
However, for all her archetypal significance, Naomi is not likable. Neither, for that matter, is Jōji. They are the unfortunate byproducts of a society of split cultural allegiances--some clinging to traditional Japanese expectations and others siphoning off the glitziest bits of Western culture. Jōji is simultaneously seduced and repulsed by this. He finds Naomi's Western name and appearance fascinating, yet clings to the belief that "Japanese should marry Japanese." Yet he spends hours each day drilling Naomi on her English lessons, sometimes resorting to verbal abuse when she misspeaks. He is a ball of cultural confusion.
Naomi is more (or, perhaps more accurately, less) than a symbol of Westernization. She is also cunning, promiscuous, manipulative, deceitful, and disloyal. However, because we witness this strange marriage through Jōji's eyes only, we can only guess at the depths of his neurosis. This is a man who fantasizes about crawling around with Naomi on his back like a child riding a horse, who takes her in at age fifteen to "raise her" with the intention of one day marrying her. There is a decidedly unnerving father-daughter dynamic between them (Naomi calls him "Papa"). However, despite having been cuckolded on countless occasions, Jōji is hardly a victim, as evidenced by the following scene: "I hadn't expected her to be so quick to beg forgiveness. Taken by surprise, I grew even more enraged. I began to pummel her with my fists" (170).
Like "La Confession Impudique" (known as "The Key" in English), "Naomi" peels away layers of artifice to expose marital nitty-gritty. It is the novel that put Tanizaki on the map. The narrative traverses the peaks and valleys of this strange, dysfunctional relationship, never falling into the trap of vilifying one spouse to sanctify the other.