Pathway to Japanese Literature
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The Regressive IdeologistAuthor: Sakaguchi Ango
| Original Title | 退歩主義者 |
|---|---|
| Author | 坂口 安吾 |
| Genre | War & Social Literature |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In the ashes of postwar Japan, Magichi—a self-proclaimed Regressionist—navigates a world where survival demands devouring more than ideals. His monstrous appetite, thrice a normal man’s rations, becomes both burden and rebellion in a society rationing hope. Returning from war to a razed home and a mother turned stranger, he’s cast into a farcical marriage with a rural heiress whose rotted teeth repel even his philosophy of embracing decay. Fleeing to a ragtag theater troupe, Magichi’s antics oscillate between tragic and absurd: hijacking performances, scavenging cigarette butts, and lecturing on civilization’s collapse. Yet his hunger—literal and existential—alienates all. Regressionism, his creed of descending from false progress, twists into desperation as theft and violence blur with performance. When a final act of defiance seals his fate, Magichi’s unraveling mirrors a nation’s disarray—a darkly comic dance between degradation and defiance, where every meal is a battle and every ideal crumbles like stale bread. |
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