How does the individual interact with their culture’s moral decrees, and what happens when they decide to tear themselves loose from it? Leslie Tong PO ‘29 discusses Sakaguchi Ango’s Discourse on Decadence and how it relates to the historical context in which it was written.
Author: Qinyi Tong
The poem of ecstasy: Nagai Kafuu, virginity and desire
Leslie Tong ‘29 discusses the japanese novel “Jigoku no Hana” and its exploration of concepts such as virginity and desire. She weaves a complex tapestry describing how societal constructs can restrict one’s sexual expression.
The poem of ecstasy: desire and its ulterior revelation in “Futon”
How should we think about love that is both genuine and impure? Leslie Tong PO ’29 explores this question in her discussion of “Futon” by Katai Tayama and the Japanese I-novel.
The poem of ecstasy: duality of perfect love in Shunkinshō
What makes love perfect? Can it survive when it stops being human? Leslie Tong PO ’29 returns with her weekly column, attempting to answer these two questions through her analysis of Shunkinshō, Junichiro Tanizaki’s 1976 work.
The poem of ecstasy: Finding the meaning of love
In her latest rendition of “The poem of ecstasy,” Leslie Tong PO ’29 takes on the question: What is the meaning of love? She reviews “The Invention of Love” by Tom Stoppard, a play about a fictional encounter between the Latin scholar A. E. Housman and past friends such as Oscar Wilde, his own younger self and an unrequited lover.
The Poem of Ecstasy: Sex, disciplines and society of “Salò”
What can we learn from a provocative film aimed to challenge the audience’s perception on sex and social orders? Leslie Tong PO ’29 delved into the film “Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom” on its central theme of moral deprivation in a modern society. With the humanization of every prevalent feature that constructs a society, we humans embarked on a suspiciously voluntary journey in internalizing disciplines that enforced morality on our conscious behaviors. The result is obvious — our unconscious rejection and avoidance in facing our imperfect desires.