Beyond Japonisme: Ethics and Aesthetics of Intermedial Japan in Roland Barthes, Michel Butor and Dany Laferrière

This dissertation explores the profound impact of the intermedial treatment of Japanese literature, art and philosophy in the works of Roland Barthes, Michel Butor, and Dany Laferrière. This study challenges the traditional framework of japonisme by demonstrating that these authors’ intermedial engagements with Japan offer fresh perspectives on interactions between France and Japan, going beyond aesthetic appreciation to ethical encounters with the Other.

By examining their personal and artistic interactions with Japan, I aim to illustrate that these encounters foster a deeper understanding of the Other and innovation in literary and artistic genres. The principal questions I will raise revolve around the way Barthes, Butor, and Laferrière access and interact with Japan. I aim to interrogate the nature of Japan in their work – how it is construed and constructed – and the manifestation of their incorporation of Japanese elements across different media as it showcases innovation and intersection with Western expressions of traditional literary and artistic genres. Finally, these explorations of Barthes, Butor and Laferrière’s relationships with Japan will unveil new ways of engaging with the Other.

My theoretical framework is underpinned by a philosophical, literary and artistic corpus including Emmanuel Levinas, Michaël Ferrier and Kojin Karatani. Their works help illuminate the ethical dimensions of the authors’ engagements with Japan and the interplay of textual and visual media through critical readings of works including Barthes’ L’Empire des signes, Butor’s Cent instants japonais, and Laferrière’s Sur la route avec Bashō.

This thesis provides new insights into how non-metropolitan French authors like Laferrière redefine Franco-Japanese artistic interactions. For Barthes, it identifies a pivotal transformation in his career marked by L’Empire des signes, while for Butor and Laferrière, it underscores how Japanese aesthetics and philosophical concepts such as machizukuri (a form of community-based urban planning from Japan) and Shinto significantly shape their approach to nature and human relationships. I aim to show that all three authors utilise aspects of Japanese culture — such as architecture, gardening, and ideograms — to transcend traditional linguistic and cultural barriers. This intermedial approach goes beyond the mere enrichment of their artistic expression. Crucially, it facilitates a rethinking of the Other, moving towards the ethical engagement proposed by Levinas and addressing his wariness of art.