Rich, Adrienne “Split at the Root” Adrienne Rich’s “Split at the Root” is a personal essay about her struggles while trying to find and claim her Jewish identity that she was disconnected from growing up in the gentile south, while also trying to figure out what being a jewish lesbian feminist means. Rich first describes the southern culture, that she grew up in, which was full of racism, anti semitism, and heteronormativity. She writes that “the assumption that relations between the sexes could only be romantic”, and heterosexuality was used as protection, to guarantee “good breeding”, and to further the southern racist scenario by, “drawing white women deeper into collusion with white men”. She also says that by being raised as a southern
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Rich would later become inspired by the civil rights and women’s rights movements of the 1950s which would lead her to search through her previously unexamined anti semitism, calling this essay another beginning in this journey for her, of finding and reclaiming her …show more content…
Tanizaki mentions areas of Japanese culture and aesthetics ranging from Japanese architecture and and room design to the costumes of the Kabuki and the Nō theatre. A big concept that he talks about when discussing these areas is the use of light and shadows in Japanese design and the care taken with every aspect or detail with a bowl or piece of jewelry for example. He contrasts the Japanese love of the “world of shadows” with the west that favors whiteness and cleanliness and excessive illumination in order to chase away darkness instead of embracing it. Tanizaki later explains why traditional japanese design utilizes shadows and darkness so often, saying, “The quality that we call beauty must always grow from the realities of life, and our ancestors, forced to live in dark rooms, presently came to discover the beauty in shadows, ultimately to guide shadows towards beauty’s ends”. He also mentions, however, the colorism and favoritism of white skin in Japanese culture, saying that it is considered to be more elegant. Tanizaki ends his essay by saying Japan has chosen to follow the West, leaving traditions, along with this world of shadows,
Rich would later become inspired by the civil rights and women’s rights movements of the 1950s which would lead her to search through her previously unexamined anti semitism, calling this essay another beginning in this journey for her, of finding and reclaiming her …show more content…
Tanizaki mentions areas of Japanese culture and aesthetics ranging from Japanese architecture and and room design to the costumes of the Kabuki and the Nō theatre. A big concept that he talks about when discussing these areas is the use of light and shadows in Japanese design and the care taken with every aspect or detail with a bowl or piece of jewelry for example. He contrasts the Japanese love of the “world of shadows” with the west that favors whiteness and cleanliness and excessive illumination in order to chase away darkness instead of embracing it. Tanizaki later explains why traditional japanese design utilizes shadows and darkness so often, saying, “The quality that we call beauty must always grow from the realities of life, and our ancestors, forced to live in dark rooms, presently came to discover the beauty in shadows, ultimately to guide shadows towards beauty’s ends”. He also mentions, however, the colorism and favoritism of white skin in Japanese culture, saying that it is considered to be more elegant. Tanizaki ends his essay by saying Japan has chosen to follow the West, leaving traditions, along with this world of shadows,