Le foglie morte. Il tema della vecchiaia nell’opera di Nagai Kafū a partire da due saggi del 1943-44

Abstract

This contribution explores the meanings and literary influences behind the “fallen leaves” motif and the “old man” pose in the writings of Nagai Kafū (1879-1959). Starting from two short essays published in the first half of the 1940s, a number of fiction and non-fiction works written from 1908 through 1937 will be analysed in order to demonstrate that the theme of ageing has much deeper connotations than one could expect and that the author resorted to it with a view to criticising Japan’s path modern society.

Keywords

• Ageing
• Modernity
• Nagai Kafū