If we think of the misery of war as being at the center of human affairs, the Japanese people have since Hiroshima been fleeing in all directions away from the center. Thus we have developed a "doughnut" view of life, keeping as much distance as possible from war's misery at the center. With the growth of our affluent consumer society, our standard of living has risen dramatically; so, to add a vertical dimension to this perspective, we leave the tragedy of war at the bottom and seek to rise higher and higher above it. With our double effort to get away from, and also above, the misery of war, the simple doughnut has been replaced by a three-dimensional pyramid as the shape of our common lifestyle -- with the [1964 Tokyo] Olympics at the top.
--Toshiro Kanai as told to Kenzaburo Oe
Wow. Not a lot I can add to this one. A doughnut of repression! A pyramid of affluence, with a hole of war at its vacant heart! Simply an outstanding mixed metaphor. And bonus points for mentioning the moral bankruptcy of the Olympics.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment