ヒューマンライブラリーにおける対話と自己理解―繰り返し参加する「本」の語りから―

抄録

The Human Library is an event where people are rented as “books” to be “read” by others. People who are considered to be social minorities are to perform as “books”, which is designed to help reduce discrimination and prejudice in the society by talking with the readers. The purpose of this event is to nurture a tolerant attitude towards different people. In this study, we focus on “the books” who are the narrators and study the effect that narrating their stories have on their self-understanding. We participated in Human Libraries performed throughout Japan and conducted semi-structured interviews of 23 “books”.

We found that “books” who participated in Human Libraries had a strong tendency to participate repeatedly, and the reasons for this included an actual feeling of growth gained through self-reflection, the pleasure of the talk, and the interchange with others. However, at times they also experienced feelings of uneasiness or recalled a traumatic event, which they struggled to overcome.

Thus, it may be said that the narrative and dialogue in the Human Library promotes new discovery and self-understanding for “books” who are struggling to come to terms with their attributes and minority status. In addition, it was suggested that they are effective in educating the general public about the perception of different cultures.