Date:         Wed, 20 Nov 1996 17:03:30 -0400
Reply-To:     Hayao Miyazaki Discussion Group <NAUSICAA@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU>
Sender:       Hayao Miyazaki Discussion Group <NAUSICAA@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU>
From:         Irresponsible Captain Tyler <twking@TRENTU.CA>
Subject:      Nausica Kaidoku (2/2)
 
Here is the introduction to Nausicaa Kaidoku translated into English by
the author (!!!)
Please express your appreciation to him for doing this.  Maybe his
publisher will wish to make an English translation available (we can
dream, can't we? :-)  He can be e-mailed at:
 
           Inaba Shin-ichiro <sinaba@e.okayama-u.ac.jp>
 
Enjoy!!
 
 
Hello!
 This is a follow-up of the last mail. Please circulate this as you
like.
 
 Here I present an introduction to my book "Naushika kaidoku (Reading
Nausicaa)" for english readers.
 
 In chap.1, I locate manga "Nausicaa" in the context of Japanese Manga
and Miyazaki`s Films.
 
 In chap.2, I present four questions to read manga "Nausicaa"
critically.
1. Why could Nausicaa come back from the depth of desperation after she
met Selm and found the Blue pure land? She had already foreseen the
existence of Blue pure land. What is the difference between 'to find'
and 'to foresee'?
2. Why could Nausicaa find the truth of the Tomb and the Blue pure land
in the Garden of the Pastor?  There  seems the illogical jump in
Nausicaa's inference here.
3. Why did Nausicaa close the Tomb, although she knew such decision
might make the future of mankind shut down?
4. Why could Kushana do nothing before the collision between her legion
and people of Dolk, although she had already learned the meaninglesness
of warfare?
 
 In chap.3, I try to solve the 1st question. Following the tradition of
analytic philosophy and deconstructionism, I try to make sense of the
meaning of `to guard the world`, and present the difference between `to
foresee` or `to know simplly` and `to find` or `to meet`.
 
 In chap.4, I try to solve the 2nd question. I analyse the dialogue
between Nausicaa and the Pastor, and make sense of the real meaning of
the Temptation.
 
 In chap.5, I try to solve the 3rd question. Here I present a
philosophical critic of utopianism, refering to Max Horkheimer and
Theodor Adorno`s critic of modernity, Robert Nozick`s libertarian
political philosopy, namely its theory of meta-utopia, and Hannah
Arendt`s philosophy of politics and human activities. I conclude manga
"Nausicaa" makes very significant contribution to utopian thoughts
and philosophical critic of utopianism. I make a new coception
of`meta-utopia`, in a slightly but significantly different sense from
Nozick`s one, through the interpretaiton of manga "Nausicaa".
 
 In chap.6, I try to solve the 4th question. Here I discuss the
`politics (ethics) of  memory (history)`, refering Japanese philosopher
Hitoshi Nagai(I think he is one who think of solipcism most
seriously and definitly in the world!)`s argument influenced by the
archeology of Michel Foucault, and Hannah Arendt`s debate on
totalitarianism and the cocept of `the holes of oblivion`.
 
 In epilogue, I discuss the implication of manga "Nausicaa" for the
probelem of `war and peace`, refering to Carl Schmidt`s theory of law of
nations and Thomas Hobbes` debate on `the state of nature`. I try to
criticize a sort of nihilism about war and peace.  Maybe we cannot get
`permanent peace`, but it doesn`t legitimize such nihilism.
 
21/11/1996
 Sincerely yours,
 
Shin-ichiro Inaba
 
--
Tyler King twking@trentu.ca  http://ivory.trentu.ca/~twking
',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',','
Just for the sake of it make sure you're always frowning...
It shows the world that you've got substance and depth.-PSB