“In the depths of the mirror the evening landscape moved by, the mirror and the reflected figures like motion pictures superimposed one on the other. The figures and the background were unrelated, and yet the figures, transparent and intangible, and the background, dim in the gathering darkness, melted together into a sort of symbolic world not of this world. Particularly when a light out in the mountains shone in the center of the girl’s face, Shimamura felt his chest rise at the inexpressible beauty of it.”
— Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
Technique
In Snow Country, Yasunari Kawabata uses the superimposition technique by overlaying images to convey a character’s inner emotions.
The above passage explains the technique in the first sentence, stating that superimposition is pictures stacked or layered like the passengers reflected on the landscape in the train’s windows. As the train moves, the main character, Shimamura, sees the mountain glinting on a girl’s face in the window, stacking the two images and creating a supernatural apparition that attracts him.
This technique was also notably used in Swann’s Way to show how one person can love another not for who they are but who they become when treated as a canvas for expression of love.
Use
- Identify two key symbols with overlapping qualities in your story. Draw (or visualize) one atop the other on a piece of paper and see if the symbols create a new image or amplify a quality of a symbol. Focus on the strongest qualities of the image and check if they convey what you’re trying to express in words. The key is for the reader to see those qualities through your words.
The Periplous 