“We are all nihilists.” Mishima Yukio, political activism and the student New Left

Journal article

Several intellectuals, such as Suga Hidemi and Oguma Eiji, have emphasized the similarities between Mishima’s conception of politics and the radical activism of the New Left in the late 1960s. For both the novelist and the young revolutionary group, political activism seems to have been motivated by a form of disillusionment and/or nihilism. !e purpose of this article is to reconsider the parallel drawn between Mishima and the New left by highlighting its limits and virtues. Although comparing one writer with a collective movement certainly implies analytical shortcuts, I argue that this parallel also provides a better understanding of the motivations of their radicalism and brings to light various existential approaches to political activism. To this end, the comparison has been extended to other writers such as Ōe Kenzaburō (1935-) and Takahashi Kazumi (1931-1971).

Authors: Garcin, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: OpenEdition
• Journal: Ebisu
• Volume: 54
• Pages: 147-175
• Publication date: 2017-12-19
• Acceptance date: 2017-12-01
• DOI: 10.4000/ebisu.2080
• EISSN: 2189-1893
• ISSN: 1340-3656
• Keywords: nihilism; ideological novel; Takahashi Kazumi; New Left; Mishima Yukio