To understand the impact of the 20th century on Japanese consciousness, one must examine examples of its popular culture that have had a profound impact on its audience. To best accomplish this, this paper examines the main characters from two works of popular culture, Sensei from the 1914 classic novel Kokoro, and Shinji Ikari from the 1995 television series Neon Genesis Evangelion. This study analyzes the events occuring at the time of and between the two stories, and also examines the authors themselves in order to determine why these seminal works are especially representative of human beings in general and especially the Japanese. If the Twentieth Century is an age of remarkable freedom, it is one in which human beings exist in an abandoned state. Lacking an essential truth about what they should want or ought to be, humans must struggle to find their own purpose, sense of self, and happiness. At the same time, forces around them dramatically change the landscape, removing traces of familiarity and a recognized history. These two works feature protagonists struggling to weather the storm of their respective eras. By understanding their struggle, we can learn how to survive modernity. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Asian Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master
of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2008. / October 24, 2008. / Despair, Modern Self, Self-Identity, 20th Century, Japan, Gendai, Kindai, Modernity, Anno, Anime / Includes bibliographical references. / Yoshihiro Yasuhara, Professor Directing Thesis; Feng Lan, Committee Member; Kathleen Erndl, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253836 |
| Contributors | Smith, Claude (authoraut), Yasuhara, Yoshihiro (professor directing thesis), Lan, Feng (committee member), Erndl, Kathleen (committee member), Program in Asian Studies (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Coverage | East Asia |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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