The Modern State and “Death of god”: Absurdity and Chaos in Ibuse’s Black Rain

Abstract

The birth of modern state with her technological advancements was hailed as a new dawn for humankind. The merits of enlightenment had finally been realized and the ensuing scientific inventions would finally perpetuate the entry of humanity towards a universal culture. The problems such as disease, ignorance and poverty that had perennially affected humanity would be forgotten given that science and industrialization had heightened human reason and production. In spite of this grand narrative, emerging voices have singled out the failures of modernism and the narrative project. They have decried modernist tendencies to mechanize humanity and eradicate the individual’s creativity and morality. Through coercion and conformity, the modern state replaces individual revaluation of culture and perpetuates violence and intellectual passivity hence the demise of progress. This article is a postmodernist critique of modernism and her grand narrative with reference to Ibuse (1970), Black Rain. It shows how the ideals of modernism can only lead humanity to inhumanity, violence and chaos. The ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger will form a theoretical basis of interpretation. This is an analytical study that proceeds through close textual reading of primary and secondary texts.