The Gourmet Club by Junichiro Tanizaki is a story about a specific club called “the gourmet club.” In this club, a group of food-driven individuals get together at a mansion owned by a Count, and explore delicious food from other countries they have never had before. In this story, Junichiro Tanizaki connects food with human being’s sense; uses confusion and conflation to dramatize the idea of “exoticism.”
Junichiro Tanizaki uses the connection between Chinese food and the sense for Chinese music to describe the desire that the Count has for Chinese food. There is a scene about the Count hears the Chinese music and all of a sudden, the music reminds him of Chinese food. Junichiro describes, “When the music quickened, the strings emitting a harsh sound like a young girl singing at the top of her lungs, it made the Count think somehow of the bright red color and the sharp, strong flavor of dragon fish guts. And when suddenly the melody became full, rounded, and plaintive like a voice that is thick with tears, he thought of a rich broth of braised sea cucumbers, so full-flavored that each mouthful keeps permeating one’s taste buds to their very roots.” (109) In this scene, in order to describe Count’s desire of consuming exoticism food, Junichiro Tanizaki establishes the relationship between the sense of music and Chinese food. The Chinese music that the Count is listening to makes him to think about Chinese food he had before. When the music changes, the imagination about food that the Count has changes as well. Junichiro Tanizaki connects the rhythm of music and the color of food such as “harsh sound” with “bright-colored dragonfish guts”; “full, round music” with “full-flavored sea cucumbers” to imply that at this moment, the Count wants to consume Chinese food even by listening to the music. In this scene, Tanizaki draws readers’ attention by connecting the sense people have for music and the experience people have for consuming food.
Then, Junichiro Tanizaki connects the food flavor with one part of human bodies to describe the experience about consuming food that a man called A. has. There is a scene about a woman sticks her finger to A.’s mouth and it makes A. feel like he is experiencing food. Junichiro describes, “Yes, it definitely tastes like bam-and in particular, Chinese-style bam. To confirm this judgment, A. concentrated his sense of taste still more fully in the tip of his tongue and kept on licking and sucking persistently at those fingers.” (135) In this scene, in order to describe A.’s experience of consuming exoticism food, Junichiro Tanizaki makes the connection between The Chinese food and the taste of fingers in A.’s mouth. In this scene, the comparison between eating and feeling for human bodies that have been implied more directly and it gives readers a very detailed experience of eating Chinese food and the exact feeling of having exoticism food. Here, Junichiro Tanizaki uses another example of confusion and conflation to dramatize the idea of “exoticism”
In the Gourmet Club, Junichiro Tanizaki tells a story about a group people experience the food they have never had before, uses visual techniques to describe Chinese food, connects the Chinese food and the sense that from human bodies, and inserts the confusion and conflation to imply the experience of exoticism.
Reference:
Junichiro Tanisaki (1919). The Gourmet Club.
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