Japanese and Western Literature. Armando Martins Janeira

picaresque novel introduces a strong realism, often in caricature and always charged with practical details; it uses a simple expression, a rather primitive conception of life, and shows a sincerity that comes close to social satire. The description is vivid and direct, and spiced by a rather bitter humour.

      The protagonist of the picaresque novel is an antihero: he despises society and its conventions; he is an anarchist by nature, disregarding the law; he is cynical and insensible to misfortune; he is an opportunist, always taking advantage of mishaps.

      The social factor has a prime role in this form of novel, with its predominant popular atmosphere. The form and type of nihilist philosophy of the picaresque literature are also unique. Construction in all these novels is disconnected, with inserted episodes extraneous or unnecessary to the plot. There is a certain deformation of reality: defects are magnified, and the dominant traits of the characters are exaggerated to strengthen the particular caricature. But the characters are always real; the plot is based on an immense collection of fact and detail that enforces their realism. The social types chosen, the depraved atmosphere, and the nature of the plot express a conception of life in which the dominant tone is hazards, bitter experiences, and the inconstancy of men and things.

      Lazarillo de Tormes, published anonymously in 1554, is the first example of the picaresque novel, and one of the most remarkable. An autobiographical tone prevails: the narrator with cynic realism and cold detachment tells about the most shocking adventures or describes the most moving scenes. A protagonist moves through all social classes and describes diverse people, but judges with disdain, often with a superior indifference. The priest, the nobleman, and the tramp are the main social types in this novel. Its popularity continued into the seventeenth century.

      Lazarillo is followed by a rich production of picaresque novels. Among them, Guzman de Alfarache by Mateo Alemán (1547-1614); Marcos de Obregón by Vicente Espinel (1550-1624); El Diablo Cojuelo by Luis Vélez de Guevara (1579-1644); and, most important of them all, El Buscón by Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645). The last works written in the vein of the picaresque appeared in the middle of the eighteenth century. La Vida de Torres Villarroel, although a biography, has been considered by some as a picaresque work due to the nature of the hero's personality and his adventures. After El Buscón the picaresque novel declined and took the characteristics of a novel of adventure.

      It is curious to note that, like in the novels of Saikaku, there are also picaresque novels in which the central character is a woman. Examples are La Pícara Justina (1605) by Lopez de Ubeda and La Hija de Celestina (1612) by Jerónimo Salas Barbadillo, both belonging to the seventeenth century. In the latter, the destiny of the protagonist, Elena, reminds us of Saikaku's The Life of an Amorous Woman in several respects. She also loses at twelve her "first flower; she is a beautiful, voluptuous, dangerous woman; she also has noblemen and a priest as lovers; she has a period of brilliant prosperity and she falls down to shame and misery, being condemned to be hanged; here also "the way of the flesh" brings the character to a wretched end.

      The picaresque novel, originating in Spain, passed into France with Lesage (1668-1747), The Spanish picaresque novel had great success in all of Europe and was translated into several languages, but it was with Gil Blas, a masterpiece of French literature, that it became universal literature. Gil Blas is more polished and has a French refinement and gentleness absent in the rude humour and gross vulgarity of Spanish rabble, but it lacks the letter's popular vigour and rebellious impudence. Lesage wrote still other novels in the line of picaresque themes, Le Diable Boiteux and Estebanillo González, in which he is less inventive, being still too near to the Spanish sources of inspiration.

      In England Defoe (1660-1731), with more genius than Lesage, has written Colonel Jacque and Moll Flanders in the picaresque vein; in this last novel have been pointed out similarities to Pícara Justina. Defoe, like Saikaku, was the spokesman for the commercial bourgeoisie. In The Complete English Tradesman and in The Complete English Gentleman, Defoe expounded on the social forces which elevate tradesmen to the governing class, on the value of commercial activity, and on the importance of economy in the social organization. He described this new class, its strength, its realism, and its respect for the concrete. But still nearer the Spanish picaresque novel is Tobias Smollett (1721-71), who translated Don Quixote and Gil Blas. He profited from this experience by writing the Adventures of Roderick Random and, the best of his works, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751).

      French and English writers brought new types into the picaresque novel, created fresh characters recruited from their national scene, and introduced the new social atmosphere of their respective countries and epochs.

      The comparison between Western picaresque novels and those of Saikaku and Ikku comes naturally to mind. Both picaresque heroes and the heroes of Saikaku, Kiseki, and Ikku are deprived of any moral sense; their preoccupation is to take advantage of the rich, to dupe them and take their money; they are mean, selfish, and ruthless. The rich are not better; they spend enormous sums for mere vanity or for satisfying their base pleasures, and are greedy and heartless in what concerns others. The novels of Saikaku, just as the European picaresque novels, unveil chiefly the ugly and the evil side of human nature.

      In Japan, as in Europe, the picaresque novel is generally constructed as a ficti-tious autobiography. The rise and fall of the protagonist alternates instead of following a regular line to glory or decadence; the incidents in the hero's life are varied and unexpected, but Le always faces them with a smile and a resigned philosophy.

      Both the Western picaresque novel and that of Saikaku contain a deep sympathy for the wretched poor people; but this sympathy is not expressed directly because the fundamental antiromantic nature of this literature did not allow it. Probably Saikaku never intended to be a social reformer as some Japanese critics today imply. Although he never used a note of social protest, it is evident in many passages of his books that he regretted the state of the poor of his time. The fact that he was so deeply interested in describing their lives and the appalling social conditions shows that he felt the injustice of social inequalities: "When we compare these folk with those who live in a more prosperous state, their lives seem wretched and pitiful indeed." His moral interest—very significant in writers of novels like those mentioned—is shown in his moralizing themes. Saikaku's criticism of bourgeois and popular society and rejection of the aristocratic tradition shows some aspects of democratic thinking.

      We have mentioned the loose construction of Saikaku's novels, some of which are like a series of independent episodes put together; we have seen the amorality and callousness of the protagonist in The Life of an Amorous Woman and the biting satire against the society of the time. It is not openly expressed, but strongly instilled in the portraits of the country lord, the priest, the jealous lady, the respected nobleman, and the callous people who exploit old and wretched prostitutes. Now and then, as in the Western picaresque novel, Saikaku adds a note of wisdom: "A beautiful woman... is an axe that cuts off a man's very life"; "There is naught in the world so strange as love; A wife is someone on whom one gazes all one's life, yet it is just as well if she be not too beautiful."⁴

      Saikaku naturally keeps his ties with the old Japanese tradition. Some phrases are still redolent of the old poetic classicism, as when he describes a heroine so beautiful that the moon in its mid-month glory regarded her with envy."⁵

      We could take the points of resemblance with Spanish picaresque novels still further. We know that Saikaku wrote renga, a form of linked verse. Once he wrote as many as 23,550 pieces in a day, a sensational feat that has never been surpassed."⁶ To compose as many renga as possible in a given length of time (a practice called yakazu-haikai) was regarded as an ascetic exercise. Similarly, the Spanish picaresque novel has been interpreted by Herrero García, in his Nueva Interpretatción de la Picaresca, as "a pseudo-ascetic production," like "a sermon in which the proportions of the composing elements are altered." Catholic preaching often makes use of humour just as the Japanese author of a novel writes in the serious tone of a moralist.⁷

      Ikku's Shank's Mare also resembles the picaresque novel. The popular atmosphere of the book, the choice of two rogues for its heroes, the pithy wit, biting satire, and wide gallery of popular characters—all are signs that this Japanese narrative of wandering adventure and ribaldry belongs to the same fictional