The Ethics of Understanding the Other and Its Limitations in Nakajima Atsushi's “Mariyan”

Abstract

The short story “Mariyan” by Atsushi Nakajima provides a unique perspective on the author's experiences during his nine-month stay in Micronesia, which began in March 1942. The paper endeavors to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the author's representation of Mariyan, a local woman residing in Micronesia, with a focus on both the strengths and weaknesses of his strategies. The author's anti-colonial stance, which aims to resist the temptation of appropriating the other, is effectively achieved through the creation of a reminiscence-based artificial distance between “I” and Mariyan. This ethical choice of portraying the unrepresentable other serves as a means of challenging the imperialistic desires that pervaded the colonial logic at the time, characterized by a logic of appropriation. However, it is noteworthy that the author's attempt to present an unrepresentable other is limited by his inherent desire for a pristine “South Seas”. The Mariyan's body, captured by the Nakagima’s gaze and his affective response of “Sadness”, serves as a dual space for the projection of the Nakajima's desires for the “South Seas” and the rejection of it.