In modern physics as in Western theology, darkness and shadows have a purely negative existence. They are merely the absence of light. In mythology and art, however, light and darkness are enjoy a kind of Manichaean equality. Each exists in its own right and lays claim to one half of the Real. In this episode, JF and Phil delve into the luxuriant gloom of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanazaki's classic meditation on the half-forgotten virtues of the dark.Get your Weird Studies MERCH! https://www.redbubble.com/people/Weird-Studies/shop?asc=uSupport us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudiesFind us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwpVisit the Weird Studies Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudiesREFERENCESJunichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780918172020) Chiaroscuro (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiaroscuro), Renaissance art style John Carpenter (dir.), Escape from L.A. (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116225/) Weird Studies, Episode 13 on Heraclitus (https://www.weirdstudies.com/13) Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in Age of Mechanical Reproduction (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781667156071) Yasujiro Ozu (dir.), Late Spring (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781667156071) Wabi Sabi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi), Japanese idea John Carpenter (dir.), Escape from NY (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082340) Jonathan Crary, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the End of Sleep (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781781683101) Eric Voegelin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Voegelin), German-American philosopher