The Literary Career of Kan Kikuchi, from junbungaku to taishū bungaku: An Analysis of the Story “On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao”

IF 0.1 0 LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM

Interdisciplinary Literary Studies Pub Date : 2022-09-01 DOI:10.5325/intelitestud.24.3.0342

Waldemiro Francisco Sorte

{"title":"The Literary Career of Kan Kikuchi, from junbungaku to taishū bungaku: An Analysis of the Story “On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao”","authors":"Waldemiro Francisco Sorte","doi":"10.5325/intelitestud.24.3.0342","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"abstract:“On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao” (Tadanaokyō Gyōjōki 忠直卿行状記) is a tale written by Kan Kikuchi (菊池寛) and published in 1918. It recounts the story of a feudal lord of the Echizen Province (越前国) during the Edo period (江戸時代), whose behavior degenerates progressively, causing the demise of many of his retainers and finally resulting in his banishment to Kyushu by order of the Shogunate. The tale is often interpreted as an attempt to explore the psychology of a tyrant, unraveling the motives that could lead a despot to perform vile acts. Nonetheless, an examination of the author’s own statements about his story and a careful analysis of its contents reveal that “On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao” is not a historical novel about a feudal society. Rather, it is more appropriately characterized as a thematic novel, centered on the issues of alienation and solitude. Although it uses Tokugawa Japan as its background, it actually deals with problems contemporary to Kikuchi’s time and describes the characters’ interrelations and emotions closer to the behavior of modern society.","PeriodicalId":40903,"journal":{"name":"Interdisciplinary Literary Studies","volume":"11 1","pages":"342 - 368"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Interdisciplinary Literary Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5325/intelitestud.24.3.0342","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

abstract:“On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao” (Tadanaokyō Gyōjōki 忠直卿行状記) is a tale written by Kan Kikuchi (菊池寛) and published in 1918. It recounts the story of a feudal lord of the Echizen Province (越前国) during the Edo period (江戸時代), whose behavior degenerates progressively, causing the demise of many of his retainers and finally resulting in his banishment to Kyushu by order of the Shogunate. The tale is often interpreted as an attempt to explore the psychology of a tyrant, unraveling the motives that could lead a despot to perform vile acts. Nonetheless, an examination of the author’s own statements about his story and a careful analysis of its contents reveal that “On the Conduct of Lord Tadanao” is not a historical novel about a feudal society. Rather, it is more appropriately characterized as a thematic novel, centered on the issues of alienation and solitude. Although it uses Tokugawa Japan as its background, it actually deals with problems contemporary to Kikuchi’s time and describes the characters’ interrelations and emotions closer to the behavior of modern society.

查看原文本刊更多论文

菊地侃的文学生涯:从中文学到大文学——对《忠雄君行论》的分析

文摘:“主Tadanao的行为”(TadanaokyōGy jōōki忠直卿行状記)是一个故事写的菅直人菊池(菊池寛),并于1918年出版。它讲述了江户时期一个越前省的封建领主的故事，他的行为逐渐堕落，导致他的许多随从死亡，最终导致他被幕府命令流放到九州。这个故事经常被解读为试图探索暴君的心理，揭示导致暴君做出邪恶行为的动机。然而，如果考察作者自己对故事的陈述，并仔细分析其内容，就会发现《忠雄君行论》并不是一部关于封建社会的历史小说。相反，它更适合被描述为一部主题小说，以异化和孤独为中心。虽然它以德川日本为背景，但它实际上处理的是与菊池时代同时代的问题，描写人物的相互关系和情感更接近现代社会的行为。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Interdisciplinary Literary Studies LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM-

CiteScore

0.10

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Interdisciplinary Literary Studies seeks to explore the interconnections between literary study and other disciplines, ideologies, and cultural methods of critique. All national literatures, periods, and genres are welcomed topics.