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The Dilemma of Faith in Modern Japanese Literature
iThe first book-length study to explore the links between Christianity and modern Japanese literature, this book analyzes the process of conversion of nine canonical authors, unveiling the influence that Christianity had on their self-construction, their oeuvre and, ultimately, the trajectory of modern Japanese literature.
Building significantly on previous research, which has treated the intersections of Christianity with the Japanese literary world in only a cursory fashion, this book emphasizes the need to make a clear distinction between the different roles played by Catholicism and Protestantism. In particular, it argues that most Meiji and Taishō intellectuals were exposed to an exclusively Protestant and mainly Calvinist derivation of Christianity and so it is against this worldview that the connections between the two ought to be assessed. Examining the work of authors such as Kitamura Tōkoku, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke and Nagayo Yoshirō, this book also contextualizes the spread of Christianity in Japan and challenges the notion that Christian thought was in conflict with mainstream literary schools. As such, this book explains how the dualities experienced by many modern writers were in fact the manifestation of manifold developments that placed Christianity at the center, rather than at the periphery, of their process of self-construction.
The Dilemma of Faith in Modern Japanese Literature will be of great interest to students and scholars of Japanese modern literature, as well as those interested in Religious Studies and Japanese Studies more generally.
eBook
What is the Antonym of Sin?
Dazai Osamu’s literature is replete with Biblical references and Christian motifs. The Anglophone scholarly community has, however, traditionally dismissed the importance of Christianity in his work, calling it “disconcerting,” “confused,” and “obvious.”
This study is concerned with how Dazai interfaced with the Christian religion and whether it is true that—to put it in one scholar’s words—that interface “failed to give his works the additional depth he sought.” The purpose of the study is twofold: 1) to address the current paucity of scholarship on this topic among researchers overseas and provide a longoverdue analysis of Dazai’s interaction with Christianity, and 2) to offer evidence that the modalities of that interaction were deeply rooted in the Meiji Christian experience and as such a development consistent with the outcomes of that legacy. The significant similarities between Dazai and Akutagawa Ryunosuke in terms of their fictional representation of fate and the Christian God, and an early infatuation with Uchimura Kanzo’s works, demonstrate Dazai’s own exposure to those ideas, reaffirming the need to reinterpret his religious discourse vis-à-vis earlier developments.
Journal Article
The Rise of a New Poetic Form: The Role of Shimamura Hōgetsu in the Creation of Modern Japanese Poetry
Shimamura Hōgetsu was one of the most influential literary figures of modern Japan. He was deeply involved in literary criticism, the study of aesthetics and rhetoric, and the presentation of Western drama to the Japanese public. Yet despite his multifaceted career and the centrality of his influence, little attention has been paid to him since his death, particularly among scholars outside Japan. This study explores the evolution of modern Japanese poetry, describing Hōgetsu's pivotal role in the theoretical progression that led to the history-making acceptance of the vernacular in the process of poetic signification. From the problem of meter to that of style on to the question of language, Hōgetsu facilitated the development of a poetic form of expression that was not anchored to tradition but that reflected the emergence of modern themes and a modern sensibility. Although he was a strong advocate of the importance of meter, he did not believe that the traditional seven-five syllabic alternation should be considered a foregone conclusion, but argued that new meters could be created, and with them new linguistic devices that were not necessarily part of the classical canon. He also repeatedly questioned the authority of the classical medium, campaigning in favor of the vernacular and prompting younger generations of poets to experiment with the contemporary linguistic material available. Hōgetsu was one of the earliest advocates of the use of the colloquial in poetry and, as such, an important figure in the creation of a modern form of poetic expression in Japan. 島村抱月は近代日本文学の進展に最も影響を与えた文学者の一人である。若い頃、修辞学の研究に専念した抱月は後に自然主義文学の評論家として注目を浴びた。晩年時代、積極的に西洋演劇の紹介に務め、日本の演劇の近代化に大きく貢献した。このように抱月は修辞学を始めとして、文学、演劇などの檬々な分野において活躍した日本文化史上見逃すことのできない存在である。 この論文では口語詩における問題を巡っての抱月に焦点を当てながら、彼がどのように近代詩の成立に関わったかを分析する。抱月は和歌や俳句の定型詩の伝統的な修辞の価値を認めはしたが、五七五とは異なる新しいミーターなどの可能性を唱え、周囲の若い弟子達に大きな刺激を与えた。抱月は早くから口語の使用の必要性も主張し、近代的な内容や感覚を表現できる近代詩の誕生に大きく貢献したと言えよう。
Journal Article
Handbook of Japanese Christian Writers
Although a century and a half of Christian proselytizing has only led to the conversion of about one percent of the Japanese population, the proportion of writers who have either been baptized or significantly influenced in their work by Christian teachings is much higher. The seventeen authors examined in this volume have all employed themes and imagery in their writings influenced by Christian teachings. Those writing between the 1880s and the start of World War II were largely drawn to the Protestant emphasis on individual freedom, though many of them eventually rejected sectarian affiliation. Since 1945, on the other hand, Catholicism has produced a number of religiously committed authors, led by figures such as Endo Shusaku, the most popular and influential Christian writer in Japan to date. The authors discussed in these essays have contributed in a variety of ways to the indigenization of the imported religion.
eBook
Christianity and modern Japanese literature
Chapter 1
– the Introduction – contextualizes the spread of Christianity in late nineteenth-century Japan, challenging the widely accepted notion that it played only a marginal role in the literary developments of the period. Providing evidence of Christianity’s influence on the individual formation of many Meiji and Taishō writers and intellectuals, this chapter discusses the intersections between the Christian religion, literature, and politics, and explains how the literary appropriation of a Christian concept of love contributed to the construction of a narrative space that advanced the case of women, their rights and emancipation. The chapter also critically identifies Calvinism and its teachings as a major catalyst not only for the literary deliberations that surrounded the process of self-construction of many modern writers, but also for the skepticism and frustration that later prompted these same writers to distance themselves from the Christian faith.
This chapter discusses the intersections between the Christian religion, literature, and politics. It explains how the literary appropriation of a Christian concept of love contributed to the construction of a narrative space that advanced the case of women, their rights and emancipation. The chapter identifies the Calvinism and its teachings as a major catalyst not only for the literary deliberations that surrounded the process of self-construction of many modern writers, but also for the skepticism and frustration that later prompted these same writers to distance themselves from the Christian faith. The connection between the spiritual and political realms was indeed an important trait of Christianity's interactions with Meiji society. Kitamura Tokoku's early letters to his then fiance Mina are among the earliest evidence of this intriguing connection between religion and political ambition. The chapter also presents an overview of the concepts discussed in this book.
Book Chapter
Kitamura Tōkoku and the celebration of the “inner life”
This chapter discusses the conversion of Kitamura Tōkoku, his relationship with Quakerism and the Society of Friends, and his development of a Christian-inspired concept of the “inner life” that had critical ramifications on the literary discourse of the following decades. The chapter provides a detailed analysis of his epistolary exchanges, the extant sections of his diary, and a number of seldom-discussed pieces he published while at the helm of the Quaker journal Heiwa.
This chapter discusses the conversion of Kitamura Tokoku, his relationship with Quakerism and the Society of Friends, and his development of a Christian-inspired concept of the \"inner life\" that had critical ramifications on the literary discourse. It provides a detailed analysis of his epistolary exchanges, the extant sections of his diary, and a number of seldom-discussed pieces he published while at the helm of the Quaker journal Heiwa. The mid-to-late 1880s were a time of consequential events for the spread of Christianity in Japan. Tokoku's establishment of the concept of kokoro as the only way to know Christ and reunite with the Spirit of the universe, which is God, implied a fundamental breakaway from the tenets of orthodox Protestantism. Katsumoto Seiichiro believes that Tokoku's resentment of the principle of earthly success was such that his debates with Yamaji Aizan were essentially an argument against Calvinism itself.
Book Chapter
The salvific discourse of Akutagawa Ryūnosuke
This chapter discusses Akutagawa Ryūnosuke’s fascination with Christianity, especially Catholicism, and the salvific discourse that emerged from his entire oeuvre. Texts covered in this section include his kirishitan mono ‘O-Gin’ and ‘Nankin no kirisuto’ (The Christ of Nanking), a set of rarely discussed short pieces such as ‘Rōkyōjin’ (A Crazy Old Man) and Kirisuto ni kansuru danpen (Fragments on Christ) that were written before his literary debut, and his late works Kappa, Haguruma (Spinning Gears) and Seihō no hito (The Man from the West), which revealed Akutagawa’s inability to address the question of faith within the framework of mainstream Protestantism.
This chapter discusses Akutagawa Ryunosuke's fascination with Christianity, especially Catholicism, and the salvific discourse that emerged from his entire oeuvre. It includes Ryunosuke's kirishitan mono 'O-Gin' and 'Nankin no kirisuto', a set of rarely discussed short pieces such as 'Rokyojin' and Kirisuto ni kansuru danpen that were written before his literary debut. The chapter also includes Akutagawa Ryūnosuke late works Kappa, Haguruma and Seiho no hito, which revealed Akutagawa's inability to address the question of faith within the framework of mainstream Protestantism. In Seihō no hito and its sequel Zoku Seiho no hito, the epilogue of this conflictive relationship, Akutagawa would make a last attempt at reconciliation by relying on his long-standing investment in Catholicism. In Haguruma, Akutagawa has attempted to escape Protestantism by probing into the possibilities of a spiritual salvation outside the dictates of the then predominant Calvinist eschatology.
Book Chapter