開発と自然環境問題に対する民間伝承の「語り」の可能性

抄録

Many myths, legends and old folktales tell the story of the negotiation process between a human being and nature. By retelling the story through the perspective of development, we can see how human beings objectify the natural environment, and how they contextualize and relate to it. To assess these processes, this paper does the following : 1) analyzes these tales in relation to paddy field development, forest development, and urban development, 2) abstracts the Japanese view of nature and concept of the divine, 3) explains the power of the 'epistemological discourse' of folktales, 4) considers whether this power can be efficacious in dealing with today's urgent global problem of protecting the natural environment. 5) The problems included in Environmental Ethics such as 'Native Title', the issue of land ownership rights for aboriginal peoples, 'The Rights of Nature', awarding the right to existence for all natural things including inanimate objects, the concept of 'stewardship' which is found through a close reading of the Bible are considered from the perspective of the potential of folktales.