The paper shares how silence plays a key part in the fiction works by Kawabata Yasunari, its application as a narrative, symbolic, and cultural means. Using a detailed analysis of such works as Snow Country, The Sound of the Mountain, Thousand Cranes, the paper describes the way Kawabata uses silence as a dynamic element that can expose the depth of emotions and inner conflicts of his characters, as well as their philosophical thoughts. Silence serves as a communication tool which exposes the unversed wishes, anxieties and regrets which are mostly inexpressible. It is intensely connected with the Japanese aesthetics, especially with the idea of wabi-sabi and ma, which appreciate imperfection, transient nature, and the gap between objects. The role of silence as a symbol of the conflict between tradition and modernity in the aftermath of the war in Japan is also present in the paper, which gives the insight into cultural and philosophical foundations of the literary vision that Kawabata developed. In the end, the silence of his works turns out to be an effective tool in expression of his isolative, memory, and life impermanence themes which provide a deep understanding of the human condition.
Sukanto Mazumder (Sun,) studied this question.