On célèbre cette année 1993 le centenaire de la mort de Guy de Maupassant (1850–1893). Ses œuvres, entre autres ouvrages naturalistes européens, ont commencé à pénétrer le milieu intellectuel japonais dans la dernière décennie de l’époque Meiji (soit dans les années 1900). Cet «envahissement» a coïncidé avec l’éclosion du naturalisme japonais, ou plutôt, il a orienté celui-ci. Quelques années avant d’envisager la rédaction de Futon (1907), une sorte de «roman des origines» du naturalisme, voire du genre romanesque typiquement japonais «Shishôsetsu» (une espèce de roman intimiste), Tayama Kataï (1871–1930) a étudié, avec la plus grande ardeur et la plus grande attention, les écrits de Maupassant.

　Nous avons d’abord examiné les théories littéraires de Tayama, arrière-plan de la création de Futon. Nous avons ensuite rapproché ce roman de deux fictions qui l’ont précédé: Einsame Menschen (1891) de Gerhart Hauptmann et Onnakyôshi (L’Institutrice) (1903) de Tayama lui-même. Et nous avons enfin essayé de dégager la spécificité des techniques narratives de Futon, en les comparant avec celles des deux œuvres de Maupassant dont Tayama cite le nom dans Futon: Fort comme la mort (1889) et Le père (1887).

　Ainsi croyons-nous avoir mis en relief les traits fondamentaux de l’innovation du genre romanesque que Tayama a réalisée sous l’influence, entre autres, de Maupassant.

　Shakespeare’s Othello and Kinoshita Junji’s Yūzuru have a common dramatic structure. In both plays Othello and Yohyō symbolically leave the “margin”，the maternal world of Desdemona and Tsū. They then move into the “centre,” the male dominant world represented by Iago or Sōdo, finally returning again to their wives.

　The “centre”and the “margin”are in a cultural binary relation. The former term refers to authority, power, or organized community as defined by a cultural code; and the latter refers to whatever can not be contained in the “centre.” Both terms have a dialectical interaction, in which the “centre” holds the dominant position by excluding the “margin,” while the “margin” threatens the “centre” by transgressing its hierarchical order.

　Both Othello, a. Moor, and Yohyō, an idiot, are excluded from the “centre,” but they are embraced by Desdemona and Tsū in the mother-child relationship of the “margin.” However，when Iago and Sōdo implant the patriarchal code of the “centre” into the heroes, the latter leave their wives and become contained in the “centre,” resulting in Desdemona’s death and Tsū’s transformation into a crane.

　But Othello and Yohyō, losing their beloved ones, again leave the “centre” and discover the value of the “margin.” Though Desdemona and Tsū are oppressed or exploited by patriarchal power, their disappearance also has a positive meaning, i. e., the heroines are paradoxically released from the control of the “centre,” and this emphasizes the importance of the “margin.” In other words, the heroines deconstruct the “centre，”revealing its limits and vulnerabilities.

　The relationship betweeen Lu Xun’s “Shangshi” and Ibsen’s “Doll’s House” has often been discussed with regard to the influence of foreign literature on Lu Xun’s “Shangshi”. This paper tries to present a new viewpoint by comparing “Shangshi” with “Maihime” in order to discover their relations. “Maihime” is a short novel based on memoirs in which Ota Toyotaro records his 5-year experience in Germany. The beginning and the end of this novel narrate the present situation of the hero (Toyotaro) who is writing his memoirs. Between the beginning and end, there are descriptions of how the hero meets, lives with, and parts with Eliese during his 5-year stay in Germany.

　“Shangshi” is also a short novel written in the form of memoirs in which Juansheng recalls his meeting and marriage with Zijun, and their parting during the space of one year. The beginning and end of “Shangshi” narrate the present situation of the hero (Juansheng) who is also writing his memoirs. Between the beginning and end, there also occur the events through which Juansheng records his relations with Zijun during the past days.

　Through these comparisons, we find “Maihime” and “Shangshi” have many analogous points. Of course Lu Xun himself says nothing to confirm the above. But since he was a reader and translator of Ogai’s works, I speculate that Lu Xun’s “Shangshi” may have been influenced by “Maihime”.

　In East Asia, the years between the late 1920’s and the early 30’s were, in the literary sense, a rare period during which a mutual synchronicity and living literary interchange among writers took place. The origin of this synchronicity was, on one hand, the growth of modern cities and their urban cultures in the 20’s, and on the other hand, the contemporary sympathy with the Chinese national revolution centering on the 5・30 incident in 1925.

　Around 1930 in Tokyo, Yokomitsu Riichi wrote the novel “Shanghai”，while Mao Tun wrote “The Twilight” in Shanghai. Yokomitsu’s “Shanghai”，staged at Shanghai’s International Settlement, conceived a new relationship of human beings and affairs, which was separated from the frame of the modern state. In distinction to this, Mao Tun’s “The Twilight”，staged also at Shanghai, described the circumstances wherein a modern state would fail owing to foreign capitals and the civil war in China. In other words, the two writers drew opposing images of the same object, Shanghai.

　At Keijo (Seoul) in the 1930’s, modernist writers, beginning with Yi Sang, took an active part in the Korean literary scene. Yi Sang’s modernist poems internalized Japanese modernist literature, yet formalized it and surpassed it. His poems and life show us an initial example of post-colonialism.

　In Jyashumon, published by KITAHARA Hakushu in 1909, love is often not sweet, but painful. In this article, I will focus on the women that appear in Jyashumon, defining them as one of the earliest representations of the “femme fatale” in Japanese literature.

　To begin with, I will examine Miwotsukushi of UEDA Bin, since this book greatly influenced the author of Jyashumon. We can find the appearance of fatal women in Miwotsukushi, a translation of selected passages. In II Trionfo della Morte by G. D’Annunzio, Ippolita, the heroine, is an invincible woman. Another female, Isolde, is also described as a woman with fatal attraction. In another passage, La Bûche of Maupassant, the woman is also very seductive. Throughout these passages, men can never resist these women, although they despise their coquetries.

　After being influenced by this kind of love, KITAHARA Hakushu wrote about corrupt love in Jyashumon. The women he writes about are often very seductive. Although the man hates the women’s coquetry, he doesn’t escape from them. They aren’t the traditional evil women found in Japanese literature. The only way the man can relieve himself is by death. In the end, the man kills his “femme fatale” and himself, just as Giorgio, the main character of D’Annunzio’s novel, did.

　Thus, the decadent love of seductive women in Jyashumon comes to an end with murdered women.

　Kikuchi Kan (1888-1948) began his literary career as one of the members of the “third Shin-shi-cho” in February， 1914，though he had already written minor essays in the circle’s magazines and newspapers. After this literary group was dissolved in September of the same year，he also participated in its “fourth” organization in 1916. Between 1914 and July of 1916, he wrote eight plays published mainly in “Shin-shi-cho” magazine and, among them， the theme of “madness” or “the mad person” was depicted, especially in the following: (1) Osoroshiichichi, osoroshiimusume (1914) (2) Kurueruhitobito (1915) (3) Okujonokyojin (1916)

　These mad characters are commonly represented as a main dramatic factor in each play and are characterized with a deep sympathy and generosity by the author.

　On the other hand, it was during this period that he was absorbed in reading and examining many works of Lady I. A. Gregory (1882- 1932). In The Full Moon, produced in 1910 by her, a lunatic woman named “Cracked Mary” lives a very honest life and speaks innocently，which impresses “Mr. Hyacinth Halvey”，who is too eager to keep up his own outside appearances.

　Kikuchi seems to have learned from this play that the state of the innocent mad woman surpasses common prestige, and that the topsyturvy standpoint can make our evaluation of life more vivid. This perspective leads us to a deeper understanding of Kikuchi’s other works.

　フランス・ロマン主義の作品には、スペインを舞台としたものやスペイン人を登場人物とするものが多くあり、そうした作品には、スペイン=残酷という紋切り型のイメージが散見される。本論考ではメリメの『カルメン』とゴーチエの『ミリトーナ』を取り上げ、このイメージがどう機能しているのかについて考察した。

　まず、いずれの小説にも、激情にかられてすぐ殺傷行為におよぶという点で、上記のイメージを体現する典型的人物が登場する。『カルメン』のドン・ホセと『ミリトーナ』の闘牛士フアンチョである。こうした人物の存在は、表層レベルにおいて、読者好みの地方色を作品に付与し波瀾万丈の筋立てを成立させる上で、非常に効果的であった。

　また一方でこのイメージはそれぞれの作者の感性や問題意識に応じて個別の意味を与えられている。『カルメン』のドン・ホセは残虐な盗賊と思われているが、それと同時に彼を翻弄するジプシー女カルメンとの関係においては、市民社会の常識や道徳を代表する人間の役割を担う。彼に魅力と恐怖の双方を喚起するその残酷さによって、カルメンはドン・ホセとは隔てられた他者であり、彼は彼女を自分の世界の中に組み入れようとするものの、彼女はあくまでもそれを拒否する。恋愛においてカルメンがドン・ホセに示す残酷さは、マージナルな存在の側からの社会規範への抵抗と解釈することもできよう。

　『ミリトーナ』において残酷さは、美的•精神的価値を備えたものとしてほとんど賞賛の対象になっている。すなわち、それは、古典的で端正な美にたいする野性的で異教的な美としての価値を担うものであり、また、ブルジョア社会の偽善や虚礼にたいする人間感情の率直な表現としての精神的価値を担うものである。ゴーチエは残酷さのイメージに肯定的価値を付与することによって、物事の効率や有用性のみを重視する散文的な先進文明社会への嫌悪と批判を表現したのである。

　Richard Wagner (1813-83) versuchte, ein，Drama‘ zu schaffen, in dem sich Literatur und Musik miteinander verbinden. Er bestellte das Feld der Gesamtkunst nach seiner eignen Art. Dabei waren ihm Shakespeare und Beethoven Vorbild. In diesem Aufsatz handelt es sich um Shakespeares Einfluß auf Wagners Dichtung. Es ist nicht schwierig, Shakespeares Spuren in den Dichtungen zu finden, die Wagner in seiner Jugend schrieb. Aber hier wird der Zusammenhang eines der Hauptwerke Wagners, „Tristan und Isolde“ (2. Aufzug, 2. Szene), mit Shakespeares „Romeo und Julia“ dargelegt.

　Die 2. Szene des 2. Aufzugs von „Tristan“ ist ein Höhepunkt des Werkes, der die Seelenbewegung der Hauptpersonen schildert. Sie geht vom ，überströmendsten Leben‘ des Liebesglücks zum ， weihevollsten, innigsten Todesverlangen‘ über. Diese Weise des Übergangs kann man auch in der Liebe von Romeo und Julia erkennen. Ihre Liebe ist von Anfang an mit dem Tod eng verbunden, der aber zuerst nur angedeutet wird und sich unter der Liebesfreude verbirgt. Je tiefer jedoch die Liebe wird, desto klarer zeigt sich der Tod. Und schließlich erfaßt der Tod so die Liebenden, daß sie ihn sogar positiv in ihren Herzen empfangen.

　Wagner hat so nicht nur die äußere Handlung (unerlaubte Liebe, Hymne an die Nacht, Trennung am Morgen und Tod) oder die Ausdrucksart, sondern auch die Entwicklungsart des inneren Dramas von „Romeo und Julia“ im „Tristan“ aufgenommen.

　Chinese writer Feng Zikai, known among other things for his translation of The Tale of Genji, began cartooning in 1925. In this paper, I will focus on his cartoons, exploring the influence of Japanese artist Takehisa Yumeji on this aspect of his work.

　Feng first came to Japan in 1921 to study Western art, working primarily in the Kawabata painting circle. Although his stay was too short to master European technique, he was able to make a wide exploration of the art world of Tokyo. During this period, he came across the “spring” volume of the Selected Works of Takehisa Yumeji in a secondhand bookstore, and was much impressed. He later wrote in his essay “Painting and Literature” of the excitement he felt when he first discovered Takehisa’s work.

　Strongly affected by Yumeji, Feng returned to China where he quickly became a popular cartoonist. The character of his drawings is neither ironic, nor humorous, but lyric, earning Feng the title of originator of “the lyrical school” of Chinese cartooning.

　A comparison of their drawings reveals the profound influence of Yumeji’s style on the Chinese artist. At the same time, however, the similarities between the two artists’ works also reflect deep similarities between their individual cultural backgrounds. In this sense, the cartoons of Feng Zikai and Takehisa Yumeji present an invaluable resource for understanding the cultural climate of New Culture Era China and Taisho Japan respectively.

　In the twentieth century, especially after World War II, the rise of American literature has been so powerful that some scholars maintain that “American literature” is being written in various countries around the world. In this paper, however, I examine the literary environment of Murakami Haruki and Raymond Carver and their literary affinity and contemporaneity as an example of how Japanese literature and American literature of the 1980s can be considered in terms of confluence, the flowing together and commingling of literary traditions.

　Owing to Murakami’s extensive knowledge of American language and literature, it is often said that he writes American literature in Japanese, and this seems to be especially true now that some of his works which have been translated into English have become bestsellers. At the same time, he has translated many contemporary works of American literature into Japanese. In fact, Raymond Carvers short stories are highly regarded in Japan mostly because of Murakami’s translations. Now Murakami’s and Carver’s fictions are read in Japan and in the United States at nearly the same time.

　There are various similarities in theme, setting, and narrative style in the works of Murakami and Carver which are perhaps due more to their being contemporaries than to one influencing the other. First, we notice similarities in theme and setting in their fictions: the failure of an ordinary man and his keen sense of humility. The suffering of an ordinary man in an ordinary situation is one characteristic theme of Japanese short stories, as Murakami points out, referring to his attraction to Carver’s stories. Then the similarity in narrative style is quite conspicuous: there is a certain detachment and deflation in their narrative styles which adds a comical effect to their stories and transforms them into tragicomedy. Such detachment and deflation in writing is one characteristic of postmodern literature: Murakami continues to pastiche many literary forms and styles, and Carver exploited various literary discourses to make everyday scenes into works of literature.