論文
ラフカディオ・ハ —ンの『ゴンボ・ゼ —ブス』
1994 年 37 巻 p. 52-64
詳細
1994 年 37 巻 p. 52-64
In this paper, tracing the formation of Gombo Zhèbes of Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), I would like to examine his interest in folklore studies in his American days, which laid the foundation for his later works in that field in Japan.
Soon after his arrival in New Orleans in 1877, Hearn was fortunate enough to make acquaintance with some intellectuals of the city; one of whom was Alfred Mercier, a Creole, who introduced him to the new trends and tendencies of the studies of folklore in contemporary France.
Deeply interested in the newly published French folklore journal Mélusine, Hearn embraced the idea of making some contribution to the study, were it only a restricted one. Focusing his attention on the Creole dialect of Louisiana and its literary products (folktales and proverbs), he started by noticing the resemblance between Louisiana Creole and that of Martinique.
He ordered from France books on French-based Creoles (Haiti, French Guyana, Mauritius, Martinique and Trinidad), most of which are found nowadays in the collection of L. Hearn in Toyama University. He selected from them some three hundred proverbs and classified them — with translations in French and English — consulting technical books and monographs in French.
From this work on Creole proverbs flowered later his essays on Japanese folklore, the importance of which is highly estimated today by many specialists.
