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CrossroadsofLiberty
Asian,AfricanandEuropeanLiteratureTowardsFreedomandOppression
FILIPPOCERVELLI
TheOppressionofDemocracy:
Political(Mis)RepresentationandCommunity
inTakahashiGen’ichirō’sWritings
Summary
Inbothhisfictionandnon-fiction,TakahashiGen’ichirōisattentivetosocialandpoliticalissues.
Thiscommitmenttodiscussingcurrenteventsandorganizationsisalsounderscoredbythefact
thatTakahashiwasapoliticalactivisthimself,andwasevenimprisonedinhisyouth.Across
sourcesmanifestinghisstandpointoncontemporaryJapaneseandworldpolitics,Takahashi
describesacontemporarysocietywherecitizensarenotadequatelyrepresentedbypoliticians,and
thelatterdonotactintheformer’sbestinterests.Often,theyuseambiguouslanguagetodivert
attentionfromimportantissuessuchasthere-evaluationofwarresponsibility.Thisisaformof
oppressionbecausethecitizensareatlossforrepresentation,sincetheofficialchannelsdonot
tackletheirneedsclearly,nordotheyseemtoaddressthecomplexitiesintheirlives.
AcomparablenotionemergesalsoinTakahashi’sliterature.Innumerousnarrativesasimilar
oppressionisvisible,whereincharactersarenotgivenachancetoidentifywithoverarching
ideologiesthatfailtorepresentthem.Politicalslogansalsoonlypromotemessagesforimmediate
one-sidedbenefits,failingtograsptherealityofeverydaylife.Withinthiscontext,thecitizens
isolatethemselvesintheirlocalizedrealities,privilegingwhatisofimmediateconcerntotheir
survival,withoutconsideringcommunalissues.Thismisrepresentationisexperiencedcrucially
atthelevelofcommunication,wherewordsonlyamounttotoolstoconveyoneportionof
individualrealitythatdoesnotachievemutualunderstandingwithothers.
ThisstudyfocusesonTakahashi’streatmentofpoliticalmisrepresentationineverydaylife.By
analyzingessays,articlesandtwopiecesoffiction,Koisurugenpatsu(TheNuclearPlantin
Love,2011)andSayonaraChristopherRobin(Goodbye,ChristopherRobin,2012),thisarticle
proposesadoublemovementbetweentheauthor’sfictionandnon-fiction,soastoillustratehow
aninfluentialauthorcontributesthroughdifferentwaysandmediatoarticulatingoppression,
andshowinghowfreedommaybeachievedthroughacollectiveredefinitionofdemocracyand
there-establishmentofcommunity.