Penitence, Mercy, and Conversion

Chapter 8 examines Lu Xun’s self-portrayal and his refiguration in Dazai Osamu’s and Inoue Hisashi’s works. Ma proposes that the concept of world literature should not only concern the circulation of literary texts but also the transfiguration of authors themselves. This emphasis is in line with Lu Xun’s own understanding of world literature, which values equally the influence of poets on the shaping of national literature and the construction of a common world of human beings. Ma focuses on two incidents recounted in Lu Xun’s autobiographical writing and in two Japanese writers’ narration—the accusatory letter and the lantern slide incidents. By detailing how they approach these two key moments of Lu Xun’s life, she reveals how Lu Xun is transformed from a person who abhors evils as deadly foes into a Tolstoyan figure who advocates kindheartedness and mercy.