2022 Volume 106 Pages 2-17
Thinking about the history of literature not only reveals the cognitive framework of the literary researcher represented by the inevitable story, but also provides an opportunity to reveal the fundamental desires of the literary researcher. Modern Japan has experienced the golden age of literary history twice. The first happened in the latter half of the Meiji era when Japanese literature (Kokubungaku) was formed, and the second took place in the postwar period with the establishment of modern Japanese literature research. In both cases, the training of professional researchers in higher education institutions was linked to the publication of teaching materials and the preparation of materials for literary education. In the postwar era, it was strongly institutionalized in criticism and research on modern literature because it was linked to the enhanced social reputation of modern literature, which overlapped with the wave of widespread literary popularization such as the boom of bunko, shinsho, and bungaku-zenshu.
