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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: March 27, 2004
Latest Update: March 27, 2004
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

Ko Sasaki for The New York Times
Coming of Age in a New Age

Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, March 2004.
"Fair use" encouraged.

This piece is based on an article from the NY Times on Saturday, March 27, 2004: Just 20, She Captures Altered Japan in a Debut Novel Article by Norimitsu Onishi, at P. A4. The article recounts the recent winning of Japan's top literary award by a 20-year-old, Hitomi Kanehara.

Hitomi Kanehara's new novel is only available in Japanese at this point. But I think you'll enjoy reading her story. She stopped attending classes in the fourth grade, and has never gone back to a traditional regime of schooling. Does that mean she's unschooled? Well, what does the evidence of her winning a top literary prize tell you? She followed the route of an autodidact, one who learns on her own, through intense reading of her own selections. But there's a catch here. Her father is a university professor.

Hitomi says: "Since I was born, I've never experienced a time of prosperity." I think lots of our young people could use that phrase with different perspectives: prosperity, peace, respect for the Other, justice as fairness, collaboration instead of competition, and so on. Change happens; so youth almost always grow up in a new age of some kind. Coming of age novels are one way we learn about this.

I've included here an extensive list of coming of age novels, many of which are by famous authors, many of which were on my reading list when I was in high school, many of which have been made into movies.List of coming of Age Novels . . . Backup.

Hitomi speaks of intense criticism of her work for its "graphic descriptions of sex and violence." Others are impressed and glad to have this "peek into Ms. Kanehara's generation."

Discussion Questions

1. What do these two perspectives of criticism tell us about answerability for young people and for the older generation, both critical and accepting?

   Recall that answerability is a gift all posess, but which requires skills to effectively use. How did Ms. Kanehara prepare herself to have such skills? Does her novel reflect answerability? For whom?

2. What do you suppose the critics who are grateful for a "peek" at Ms. Kanehara's life consider how this novel fits into their own answerability, their own ability to effectively express what they feel about young people today?

   Consider that it's hard to carry on a dialogue with an Other if you don't understand them. I liked the choice of the word "peek" because it implies that there is more to Ms. Kanehara's life and the lives of other young people than we may see in the novel. Consider how you as an adult might use what you learn from any of these coming of age novels to build a meaningful discourse with the young people in your life.

   We read Paul Beatty'sWhite Boy Shuffle a few semesters ago. We experienced the same very different reactions. But the older group in the class learned that the "f" word's occurring in a book isn't necessarily a valid reason for refusing to read the book. One mature woman discovered that a nephew she had always denigrated for his "bad behavior" might deserve another chance to build a dialogue and strengthen family ties instead of just condemning "bad" behavior. Sometimes a "peek" into that other world makes it seem less awful, less frightening.

3. How could we view each of these coming of age books as a practical application of answerability?

   Consider how we come to know one another. Consider how each story, each narrative is one piece of that knowing. Consider that illocutionary discourse, or listening in good faith to try to understand the Other's validity claim, is essential to answerability and the effective building of interpersonal relationships. Recall that this is what we mean by conceptual linking: connecting theoretical concepts to examples of actual situatedness in everyday life.

4. How could this issue yield a project for the exhibit?

   Consider working with a young person, or consider doing a memory piece of your own. Choose a coming of age book to share with someone, or one that had a great impression on you. Consider relating your reactions to the book to illocutionary discussion, answerability, and non-exploitative governance of the family or an institution. Consider photographing scenes that might fit your narrative. Or consider drawing or painting or sculpting or music or performance that might help get across the message you found in your reading (either your onw reading or shared reading.)