Tanizaki & Solzhenitsyn and realism

Tanizaki & Solzhenitsyn and realism

    Tanizaki and Solzhenitsyn's works both contain an underlying philosophy of realism.   This realism is a balance between optimism and pessimism, and can be seen in both authors’ discussions of society and characters, and their language. Defined by Roget's Dictionary-Thesaurus and WordNet, realism is "a tendency to see or present things as they actually are," and "art and literature that represents events and social conditions…(without idealization)."   Whether Tanizaki and Solzhenitsyn write about society or certain characters in "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and "The Makioka Sisters," this "realism" takes on a different implication: The authors' descriptions of society are realistic while their characters subconsciously have a realistic philosophy.
    Although seemingly different at first, the societies in both One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Makioka Sisters are constrictive and repressive.   These two novels are powerfully honest literary commentaries on the political condition of the authors’ homelands, but they are also reminiscences of cultures lost.   Tanizaki and Solzhenitsyn each subtly include a type of respect for their people, and this is what brings in the realism: Tanizaki and Solzhenitsyn have the ability to see the faults of their cultures and also to recognize the good in them.
    Tanizaki’s novel is not the plea for social change as is One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, but rather a documentary on the decline of a culture, a culture that Tanizaki admires.   Reverence toward nature is one aspect of the Japanese culture that Tanizaki finds commendable.   In Makioka Sisters, Tanizaki is suggesting nature is very important to the Japanese, and particularly the Osakan, citizen because they depend on it for peace of mind.   Tanizaki writes about nature in a style similar to haiku, in that he paints an accurate, non-idealistic picture.
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Those weeping cherries just beyond the gallery to the left as one steps inside the...