MOTION AND SYMBOLISM OF BUDDHISM AS A THERAPEUTIC RESPONSE IN KYOTO (KAWABATA YASUNARI) AND APOCALYPSE HOTEL (HO ANH THAI)

Abstract

Based on the approach of Amos Goldberg's two forms of trauma in narrative literature, this article employs a tripartite methodological framework, encompassing structural, historical-cultural, and comparative perspectives, to elucidate the role and nature of Buddhism as a therapeutic response to trauma in the artistic narrative works Kyoto (Kawabata Yasunari) and Apocalypse Hotel (Ho Anh Thai). Essentially, this is the methodology of Buddhist criticism in literary studies. The research findings indicate a theoretical convergence between trauma, the concepts of suffering (dukkha), impermanence (anicca), and selflessness (anatta), as well as the manifestation of Buddhist elements in these two novels as both intellectual and artistic solutions for contemporary trauma with universal implications in Japan and Vietnam. Consequently, this study offers a fresh perspective on the theoretical relationship between trauma in literature and Buddhism, transcending mere social criticism, introduces novel insights, outcomes for studying and teaching Vietnamese and Japanese literature at the college level.