How Does 'In Praise Of Shadows' Critique Modern Lighting?

2025-06-24 19:07:29 259

3 Answers

Quinn
Quinn
2025-06-27 13:22:13
Tanizaki’s 'In Praise of Shadows' hits different when you’ve lived in both neon-lit cities and countryside inns. Modern lighting isn’t just brighter—it’s alienating. The book obsesses over how shadows create intimacy. A single lantern in a corridor invites curiosity; fluorescent strips kill imagination. He mocks Western-style bathrooms for being too bright, arguing Japanese baths should let you soak in twilight.

The critique isn’t nostalgic. It’s about sensory economics. Shadows force you to engage—leaning closer to see, interpreting shapes. Overlighting spoon-feeds everything, making spaces passive. Tanizaki especially hates how modern lighting standardizes time. Pre-electric life followed natural rhythms; now midnight looks like noon. His solution? Hybrid spaces—keep tech but design for selective darkness. Install dimmers, use screens instead of glass. It’s not anti-light; it’s pro-shadow, asking why we traded mystery for convenience.
Zachary
Zachary
2025-06-28 22:06:06
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's 'In Praise of Shadows' is a poetic roast of modern lighting. The guy straight-up calls electric bulbs a crime against aesthetics. He argues traditional Japanese spaces were designed for soft, uneven lighting—think paper lanterns or candlelight—which created depth and mystery. Modern lighting? Too harsh, too uniform, kills all nuance. It flattens textures that used to shimmer in shadows, like gold lacquerware or aged wood. Tanizaki mourns how brightness exposes imperfections instead of hiding them beautifully. His rant extends to architecture too; he claims modern homes with their glaring lights make shadows disappear, stripping spaces of their soul. The book’s a love letter to subtlety, basically screaming 'Dim the lights, you philistines!'
Delilah
Delilah
2025-06-30 23:01:41
Reading 'In Praise of Shadows' feels like attending a masterclass in cultural sensitivity toward light. Tanizaki doesn’t just dislike modern lighting—he dissects its cultural violence. Japanese aesthetics, he explains, revered shadows as active participants in beauty. A dimly lit tea room isn’t just poorly illuminated; it’s carefully calibrated to let shadows define shapes and moods. Electric lighting bulldozes this delicate balance. It’s not just about brightness; it’s about how light changes behavior. Traditional lighting encouraged pauses, contemplation, while modern lighting rushes us.

Tanizaki’s critique gets spicy when he compares materials. Gold in candlelight glows mysteriously; under LEDs, it looks cheap and flashy. Muted colors turn garish. Even makeup—he points out how pre-electric-era cosmetics relied on shadowy rooms to work their magic. Modern lighting exposes every pore, forcing makeup into unnatural brightness. His argument isn’t anti-progress but pro-choice: why must every corner be lit like a hospital? The book’s a manifesto for letting darkness breathe.
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