Building on concepts from previous episodes, Narrative Machines Episode 6, "Literally Literary Suicide," explores the extraordinary life and dramatic death of Japanese literary icon Yukio Mishima. Renowned for intertwining artistry, identity, and nationalist fervor, Mishima's final act—his ritual suicide (Seppuku)—was as performative as it was political. This episode investigates how Mishima's meticulously cultivated persona, intense dedication to aesthetic ideals, and public spectacle blurred reality and fiction, leaving behind unsettling questions about authenticity, fanaticism, and the lethal power of narrative.

Examining Mishima's acclaimed works, such as the film Patriotism, and key historical moments, including his failed 1970 coup attempt, this episode offers a critical reflection on the intersection of aesthetics, ideology, and self-sacrifice. "Literally Literary Suicide" challenges listeners to confront uncomfortable questions about commitment to ideas, the allure of martyrdom, and the dangerous seduction of myth.

Topics:

Yukio Mishima's integration of aesthetics, politics, and personal identity.

Mishima's fascination with the samurai code (Bushido) and ritual suicide (Seppuku).

Performance as identity: Mishima’s constructed hyper-masculine public persona and nationalist image.

Analysis of Mishima’s 1966 film Patriotism as foreshadowing his suicide.

Mishima's failed 1970 coup attempt: political act or staged spectacle?

The paradox of sincerity: Mishima’s belief that authenticity required visible, physical proof.

Examination of Mishima’s final, theatrical act of suicide as a symbolic transformation.

Baudrillard’s and Deleuze’s philosophical perspectives on death, authenticity, and spectacle.

The role of myth, nihilism, and Romanticism in shaping Mishima’s ideology and actions.

The tension between artifice (fiction) and reality in Mishima’s life and death.

Reflecting on Mishima’s legacy, and why his final gesture resonates, yet is frequently misunderstood or ridiculed.

Visit Jamescurcio.com/narrative-machines or ModernMythology.net for affiliated projects and podcasts.

David Bowie’s career exemplified the interplay of performance, identity, and mythmaking. Through personas like Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, and the Thin White Duke, Bowie blurred the lines between artifice and reality, crafting an enigmatic, occult-tinged ambiguity that challenged perceptions of authenticity and selfhood.

This episode delves into Bowie’s engagement with symbolism and fascist aesthetics during the mid-1970s, posing tough questions about the ethical limits of art and performance. It also examines the broader political implications of such themes, as addressed in episode four. From the glittering glam rock of the early ’70s, through the cocaine-fueled chaos of his occult fascination, to the introspective and reflective Berlin years that followed, Bowie’s shifting artistry reveals an artist grappling with the volatile forces he summoned.

By comparing Bowie’s calculated use of artifice to the rise of modern performative figures like Donald Trump and phenomena like Reality TV and the kayfabe of pro wrestling, we explore how spectacle, mythmaking, and image construction shape public narratives in both art and politics.

Topics Discussed

The Art of Performance and the Performance of Art:

Bowie’s personas blurred the boundary between character and self, complicating traditional notions of authenticity. His role in The Man Who Fell to Earth exemplifies this interplay, rooted in the public image depicted in Cracked Actor.

Masks as Tools of Self-Creation:

Bowie’s use of personas such as Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke showcased masks as mechanisms for both self-revelation and concealment, questioning whether there was ever a "real" David Jones beneath these layers.

Occultism and Symbolism:

Inspired by figures like Aleister Crowley, Bowie used occult imagery not as spiritual doctrine but as a symbolic framework to explore creativity and transformation.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Analogy:

Bowie’s characters, particularly the Thin White Duke, illustrate the risks of engaging with powerful symbols without fully understanding their implications, echoing Goethe’s famous cautionary tale.

Fascist Aesthetics and Ethical Implications:

Bowie’s flirtation with fascist iconography highlights the tension between aesthetic experimentation and ethical responsibility.

Performance and Politics:

The rise of performative figures like Donald Trump underscores the ways in which spectacle and reality bleed together, drawing parallels to Bowie’s exploration of myth and public persona.

The Power of Myth and Legacy:

Bowie’s personas—archetypes co-created with his audience—illustrate how art participates in shaping collective identity and cultural mythology.

Art as a Ritual of Transformation:

Bowie’s work highlights the alchemical possibilities of art, where the act of donning masks and adopting identities opens pathways to personal and cultural change.

Ethics of Transgression in Art:

This episode examines the moral responsibilities of artists who push boundaries, focusing on how Bowie navigated the unforeseen consequences of engaging with provocative themes.

Appropriation and Innovation:

Bowie’s ability to borrow from diverse cultural sources—musical, visual, and symbolic—and recontextualize them into something uniquely his own raises enduring questions about appropriation and innovation.

Visit Jamescurcio.com/narrative-machines or ModernMythology.net for affiliated projects and podcasts.

Narrative Machines, Episode 4: Masks All The Way Down challenges the notion of identity as a singular, stable essence, instead presenting it as a recursive performance—an interplay of masks, personas, and shifting narratives. From roleplaying games to professional personas, from instinct to artifice, we examine the idea that there is no final, unmasked self—only layers of performance. If identity is constructed through repetition and context, what does that mean for agency? And just as crucially—who is shaping the stage?

The episode begins with David Bowie’s prescient reflections on the Internet and anonymity, framing a broader discussion of aesthetic performance as a force in modern political and cultural life. From there, we turn to Yukio Mishima, whose work and life exemplify modern nihilism’s entanglement with theatrical self-creation, foreshadowing the existential crises of the 21st century. Future episodes will explore their respective artistic and ideological trajectories in depth, treating them as case studies in self-mythologizing and narrative control.

For now, we take a wide-angle approach, positioning these ideas as a warning against reducing ethics to aesthetics—a concern amplified by AI, social media algorithms, and deepfakes eroding the boundaries of authenticity. The case of Anonymous and their use of the Guy Fawkes mask illustrates how symbols, once fixed in meaning, can be repurposed to forge new collective identities. This phenomenon encapsulates the episode’s central argument: in a world where narratives are weaponized, understanding the layered performance of identity is critical to reclaiming agency.

Listen to Weird Studies episode 70 for an extensive conversation about these themes.

Topics Covered:

The Vulgar Nihilism of Our Age:

Examines the shared existential void as explored by artists such as Bowie, Mishima, and 20th-century society.

Critiques the reduction of ethics to aesthetics.

Weaponization of Narrative and the Collapse of Truth:

Discusses how propaganda, disinformation, and media manipulation erode a shared consensus reality.

Uses the metaphor of ideological “glasses” from They Live to illustrate filtered perceptions of reality.

Technology and Narrative Manipulation:

Explores the role of AI, social media, and algorithms in reinforcing biases and echo chambers.

Highlights the threat posed by deepfakes in blurring the lines between fact and fiction.

The Mask as Identity’s Core Symbol:

Analyzes masks as representations of the constructed, performative nature of identity.

Alternate Reality Games, Roleplaying Games, and a new age of disinformation.

Details the reappropriation of the Guy Fawkes mask by Anonymous as a tool for collective narrative.

Identity as Performance:

Argues that all identities are performances shaped by intersecting social, cultural, and personal narratives, with no singular “true” self.

Critical Engagement with Narratives:

Calls for a heightened critical awareness in an era of relentless narrative manipulation.

Offers strategies to resist control and reclaim agency by scrutinizing the stories that define our reality.

Visit Jamescurcio.com/narrative-machines or ModernMythology.net for additional affiliated projects and podcasts.