Autobiographical testimony about the shame of an entire generation: Osamu Dazai, No longer human (Ningen shikkaku, 1948)
Autobiographical testimony about the shame of an entire generation: Osamu Dazai, No longer human (Ningen shikkaku, 1948)

Summary/Abstract: The present study tries to elaborate an analysis of the novel No longer human from the perspective of cultural semiotics, by focusing upon concepts such as haji (‘shame’), identity, social convention, moral, crisis, which receive specific valencies in the given social and political context. In an era dominated by nationalist ideology and political expansionism, the Japanese social system, based on strict hierarchies and the idea of “closed groups”, inevitably led to a crisis of social identity. Such was the case of Osamu Dazai whose almost autobiographical literature reflected lucidly the extent of devaluation of the human condition. Trapped between desperation of soul and doubt of reason, the hero of the novel No longer human finds himself unable to cope with social constraints and falls prey to an anguish which slowly turns to a feeling of dishonor and humiliation, one that Japanese language calls haji (‘shame’). However, the concept receives multiple connotations within the context of post-war Japanese society. In this respect, the novel dwells upon the conflict between the stability of conventions and a possible moral revolution.

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