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27 June 2014

'Oku Hanafu' by Eluned Gramich - Review

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Eluned Gramich completed a BA at the University of Oxford, and an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. She participated on the Daiwa Scholarship  2012 programme, to explore Japan’s literature and culture. Her first published short story, Oku Hanafu was published in ‘Rarebit’, edited by Susie Wild in 2014.

Oku Hanafu by Eluned Gramich is a short story set in Japan. It follows the concept of ‘omiai’, arranged marriage. The story opens with Yoko and her mother waiting for a kabuki play to begin. There is tension, and the reader is filled with anticipation as “Yoko remembers the last time she was out in the evening”. After encountering Torimitsu and her son, Nakamura, at the theatre, the story goes back to “six months ago” when Yoko first met Nakamura, her potential partner. At the age of thirty-six Yoko may be perceived as undesirable, having passed the ‘tekireiki’ stage- marriageable age. However, it is not her age that seems to jeopardize an affiliation but rather her personality as well as expressed lack of interest in a relationship. The plot returns to the present, at the theatre, where the result of her and Nakamura’s meeting is revealed.

The mood within this short story is indescribable; one can somehow feel the tension of each scene, the start is almost foreboding but not in a way we expect it to. Initially, we are told that “there is something wrong about being out of the house at night,” leaving the reader with a sense of imminent danger. However as the story progresses we discover this may not be the case, and so one of Yoko’s characteristics is somewhat revealed. In a short story, there is little room for a plotline, therefore the characters and setting are crucial in giving the reader something to guess, to figure out. Oku Hanafu has just that, and whilst some aspects of this read can be reproached for almost giving too much away, Gramich has left room for the reader to speculate.

My personal approach to this work is that Yoko struggles with anxiety which is implied in her given characteristics, and this is perhaps an underlying reason that she avoids looking for a partner. Her shyness, insecurity, fear of “being out of the house at night” and loud noises as well as discomfort around people are various symptoms of anxiety and so whilst no diagnosis is mentioned, this is one factor that Gramich is allowing us to look out for. Yoko eventually blurts out that she wants to marry, but is confused by why she thought this. It can be inferred from here that she subconsciously wants what is referred to sociologically as an inevitable life stage, so, naturally the idea remains at the back of her mind. Despite her coldness when interacting with others, which is perhaps due to her social anxiety, she needs some intimacy though she is not outwardly aware of this. This is a further implication of introversion.

Oku Hanafu is gripping, and its author has succeeded in creating an atmosphere that practically brings the reader to the location, we are not only readers, mindful of Yoko’s thoughts in the free indirect narrator, but also observers within each scene that is presented.

One wonders whether Gramich’s intentions were to set the story in modern day Japan, or back a century or two ago when kabuki was introduced and developing. It includes many aspects of Japanese culture that are traditionally known but are overlooked in today’s Japanese society by the West. Perhaps she wishes for us to choose the time period, see what comes to mind first. The women wear kimonos, they partake in a traditional miai, and there is no indication of a postmodernist society, one might automatically presume that this was written as the 19th century. But Gramich’s understanding of Japanese culture is present- the Japanese wear traditional formal clothing to the theatre just as westerners put on formal attire, and the concept of arranged marriage is, whilst not as common amongst the newer generation, still acknowledged and considered by some people. For that reason it is feasible that Eluned Gramich aims to manifest the reality of Japan today.

Text written by Alyssa Ollivier, Hendon School

 

 

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