Sex and the Body in the Akutagawa Prize ② (2017-2024) | The Akutagawa Prize Since 2000 ⑩
Last time, we looked at "Sex and the Body" as depicted in the Akutagawa Prize from the 2000s to the first half of the 2010s, covering "Snakes and Earrings" (Hitomi Kanehara, 2003), "Breasts and Eggs" (Mieko Kawakami, 2007), "Circling the Underworld" (Maki Kashimada, 2012), and "The Marriage Life of Different Species" (Yukiko Motoya, 2015).
In recent Akutagawa Prize works, this theme has come to have an even greater presence.
The body is not merely physical flesh.
Aging, disability, illness, gender, childbirth, and death.
These are depicted as issues intrinsically linked to the very act of human living.
This time, we will cover "I'll Go On Alone" (Chisako Wakatake, 2017), "Hunchback" (Sao Ichikawa, 2023), and "The Forty-Ninth Day of the Salamander" (Aki Asahina, 2024).
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📖 Among the works introduced this time, those eligible for Kindle Unlimited can be read as part of the subscription. If you haven't tried it yet, you can test it with a 30-day free trial → https://www.amazon.co.jp/kindle-dbs/hz/signup?tag=dch01-22
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2017: "I'll Go On Alone" (Chisako Wakatake)
The protagonist is a woman in her seventies.
She has been widowed and continues to live alone.
This work depicts aging.
The body gradually declines. Things that were taken for granted in youth become impossible to do.
However, aging is not just about loss.
While looking back on the past, the protagonist continues to engage in a dialogue with herself.
Her way of living while accepting the changes in her body is depicted powerfully.
It is likely one of the representative works of the Akutagawa Prize that addresses "aging" head-on.
2023: "Hunchback" (Sao Ichikawa)
This is a work that symbolizes the recent Akutagawa Prize.
The protagonist lives in a facility while dealing with a severe disability.
Society often views people with disabilities as objects of protection. However, this work rejects such a gaze.
There is desire. There is sexuality. There is anger.
The protagonist exists as a human being.
While there are many works of literature centered on the body, few confront the body and desire as directly as this one.
It is fair to say that this is one of the representative Akutagawa Prize works of the 2020s.
2024: "The Salamander's Forty-Ninth Day" (by Aki Asahina)
This is a particularly impressive work among recent Akutagawa Prize winners.
In this work, the body itself is placed at the center of the narrative.
Where does the self end? Do the body and personality coincide? Where do life and death diverge?
The work poses these fundamental questions.
While it can be read as a family novel, it leaves an even stronger impression as a work of literature concerning the body and life.
It is a work that tackles the theme of the body from a different direction than "Breasts and Eggs" or "Hunchback".
The body has become the front line of literature.
In the Akutagawa Prize works of the 2000s, the body was often depicted in connection with youth, sexuality, and marriage.
However, the situation has changed in recent years.
"Ora, Ora Be Goin' Alone" depicted aging.
"Hunchback" depicted disability and desire.
"The Salamander's Forty-Ninth Day" re-examined life itself.
Everyone has a body. That is precisely why the way it exists varies so greatly from person to person.
In recent years, the Akutagawa Prize has not hidden these differences, but rather has actively depicted them.
Looking back at the winning works since 2000, it is clear that "sex and the body" is one of the themes that represents the Akutagawa Prize.
And even now, this theme continues to be updated in new ways.
Next time, under the theme of "Land and Memory," I would like to look at Akutagawa Prize works that depict place and memory, while taking up titles such as "Toki ga Nijimu Asa," "Otome no Mikkoku," "Shinsekai," and "Hyakunen-doro."
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📚 If you want to read the works introduced this time: ・Kindle Unlimited (30 days free) | Eligible works are available to read as-is →
https://www.amazon.co.jp/kindle-dbs/hz/signup?tag=dch01-22
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https://www.amazon.co.jp/b/ref=adbl_JP_as_0068?ie=UTF8&node=5816607051&tag=dch01-22
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