Negotiating existential concerns through the grotesque in Yukio Mihsima’s forbidden colours
The grotesque and existential concerns are rarely studied alongside each other in the field of literature. History has it that the grotesque is always associated with aspects which denote negative connotations such as deformity, death, violence or monstrosity. Additionally, the grotesque is also pop...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
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UPM Press
2021
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/94343/ |
| _version_ | 1848861971748749312 |
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| author | Jin, Beng Seach Ali Termizi, Arbaayah |
| author_facet | Jin, Beng Seach Ali Termizi, Arbaayah |
| author_sort | Jin, Beng Seach |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The grotesque and existential concerns are rarely studied alongside each other in the field of literature. History has it that the grotesque is always associated with aspects which denote negative connotations such as deformity, death, violence or monstrosity. Additionally, the grotesque is also popularly employed as an approach to challenge traditions and deviate from what is accepted as the norm. Meanwhile, the origins of existentialism can be traced back to as early as the 19th century. Existentialists’ main concerns have always been seeking the meaning of life and they are constantly looking for ways to justify one’s existence in a world where pessimism rules. Thus, this paper aims to establish a connection between existentialism and the grotesque by primarily focusing on how the two male protagonists Yuichi and Shunsuke in Yukio Mishima’s Forbidden Colours employ the grotesque as a way to deal with existential concerns as pointed out by Irvin Yalom namely death, meaninglessness, freedom and existential isolation with an emphasis on the first two concerns. Grotesque elements such as misogyny, pederasty and carnivalesque will be studied alongside two existential concerns which are death and meaninglessness to show how the male protagonists are able to rely on the grotesque to subdue their anxieties brought upon by their existential concerns in order to justify their sense of existence. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T13:09:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-94343 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T13:09:36Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | UPM Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-943432023-04-05T02:49:25Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/94343/ Negotiating existential concerns through the grotesque in Yukio Mihsima’s forbidden colours Jin, Beng Seach Ali Termizi, Arbaayah The grotesque and existential concerns are rarely studied alongside each other in the field of literature. History has it that the grotesque is always associated with aspects which denote negative connotations such as deformity, death, violence or monstrosity. Additionally, the grotesque is also popularly employed as an approach to challenge traditions and deviate from what is accepted as the norm. Meanwhile, the origins of existentialism can be traced back to as early as the 19th century. Existentialists’ main concerns have always been seeking the meaning of life and they are constantly looking for ways to justify one’s existence in a world where pessimism rules. Thus, this paper aims to establish a connection between existentialism and the grotesque by primarily focusing on how the two male protagonists Yuichi and Shunsuke in Yukio Mishima’s Forbidden Colours employ the grotesque as a way to deal with existential concerns as pointed out by Irvin Yalom namely death, meaninglessness, freedom and existential isolation with an emphasis on the first two concerns. Grotesque elements such as misogyny, pederasty and carnivalesque will be studied alongside two existential concerns which are death and meaninglessness to show how the male protagonists are able to rely on the grotesque to subdue their anxieties brought upon by their existential concerns in order to justify their sense of existence. UPM Press 2021-03-16 Article PeerReviewed Jin, Beng Seach and Ali Termizi, Arbaayah (2021) Negotiating existential concerns through the grotesque in Yukio Mihsima’s forbidden colours. Journal of Language and Communication, 8 (1). 30 - 44. ISSN 2637-0875 https://journalfbmk.upm.edu.my/ojs3/index.php/jlc/article/view/365 |
| spellingShingle | Jin, Beng Seach Ali Termizi, Arbaayah Negotiating existential concerns through the grotesque in Yukio Mihsima’s forbidden colours |
| title | Negotiating existential concerns through the grotesque in Yukio Mihsima’s forbidden colours |
| title_full | Negotiating existential concerns through the grotesque in Yukio Mihsima’s forbidden colours |
| title_fullStr | Negotiating existential concerns through the grotesque in Yukio Mihsima’s forbidden colours |
| title_full_unstemmed | Negotiating existential concerns through the grotesque in Yukio Mihsima’s forbidden colours |
| title_short | Negotiating existential concerns through the grotesque in Yukio Mihsima’s forbidden colours |
| title_sort | negotiating existential concerns through the grotesque in yukio mihsima’s forbidden colours |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/94343/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/94343/ |