Constructing Japan: Strategies of the creation of the ‘Japan effect’ in the fiction of Wacław Sieroszewski and Ferdynand Ossendowski

This is an analysis of the strategies used to create a perception of Japan, or the ‘Japan effect’ – a term inspired by Roland Barthes ‘reality effect’ (effet de reel) – in the fiction of Wacław Sieroszewski and Ferdynand Ossendowski, two Polish writers who were first to introduce Japan to the Polish general public. Both visited Japan, Sieroszewski in 1903 and Ossendowski in 1921; both were authors of popular fiction set in exotic locations. However, each of them chose a different strategy of presenting the Japanese setting of their stories. While Ossendowski's construction of the ‘Japan effect’ can be described as ‘encyclopedic realism’ (his narrative is stitched up with multiple notes and explanations), Sieroszewski takes a more direct, dramatic approach. Sieroszewski prefers to confront the reader with various exotic ‘props’ and to take him on a journey of discovery of the peculiarities of Japanese behavior, aesthetic values and ways of thinking.