The term ‘wenxue’ meaning literature in Chinese, can be seen in Lunyu. In modern times, as cultures of the West spread among Eastern Asian countries, Chinese ‘weaxua’ or Japanese ‘bungaku’ received a new meaning like many other Chinese words. And it established itself as one of the technical terms of the modem times. It also played an important role in China and Japan.

　In this paper, from the perspective of comparative literature with reference to previous studies, how the Chino-Japanese word ‘wenxue’ or ‘bungaku’ came to be used for ‘literature’ will be considered. For this purpose, Greece is the foundation of western literature （“希臘為西国文学之祖”）written in Chinese by Joseph Edkins，an English missionary who stayed in Shanghai during the late Ching era, the beginning of Modern China, is examined. During the process in which the Chino-Japanese word ‘wenxue’ or ‘bungaku’ came to be used in order for Western academic cultures to be imported, the term retained some of its classical Chinese ideas. This situation is explained through the examination of friendly relations between the missionary and his Chinese intellectual friends. Lastly, the historical fact that the magazine Shanghai Serial (『六合叢談』）was imported from China to Japan will be examined. Finally, based on this fact, how Western cultures, including the translation of the term ‘literature’，were accepted by modern Chino-Japanese intelletcts will be considered.

　Naoko (1941) de Tatsuo Hori est sous l’emprise d’André Gide, auteur de la trilogie qui se compose de L’Ecole des Femmes (1929), de Robert (1930) et de Geneviève (1936).

　La traduction japonaise de ces deux premières pièces gidiennes qui a paru en 1933 a joué un rôle catalyseur dans la conception et l’élaboration de «Monogatari no Onna»，avant-texte de «Nire no Ie» qui constitue la première partie de Naoko de Hori.

　«Nire no Ie» dépeint l’antipathie et la sympathie que Mme Mimura et sa fille, Naoko, éprouvent l’une pour l’autre. Les relations ambivalentes de cette sorte entre la mère et la fille nous font songer à celles entre Eveline, héroïne de L’Ecole des Femmes, et Geneviève, fille de celle-là.

　L’influence du romancier français s’étend tant sur le fond que sur la forme de l’œuvre de Hori. Gide l’a éclairé sur le mérite de la diversité des points de vue. En combinant l'optique de Mme Mimura et celle de Naoko，à l’instar de la trilogie gidienne，notre écrivain japonais a tenté, dans «Nire no Ie»，d’analyser à fond les relations ambiguës entre les deux héroïnes dont nous venons de parler. Et «Naoko», la deuxième partie du livre qui porte le même titre, comporte, en outre de Naoko, Akira, son vieil ami, et Keisuke, son mari, comme personnages focaux. La juxtapositon de leurs points de vue permet de mettre en relief des tâtonnements que Naoko fait pour vivre après la mort de sa mère.

　When SHIMAZAKI Toson wrote “Chikumagawa no sukecchi (The Sketches of Chikumagawa)，” he was influenced by Turgenev’s “Записки охотника” along with “A Sportsman's Sketches” translated to English by Constance Garnett and “Aibiki” translated to Japanese by FUTABATEI Shimei. FUTABATEI introduced a dual observation of colour, light and shadow through his translation. This was a new way of describing nature and contrary to the Japanese traditional plane depiction. Later, many writers, including Toson, followed this method. However, in the description of sounds, the Japanese traditional sense of hearing remained.

　FUTABATEI translated the sound of leaves “дремотная болтовня (drowsy chatter)” into “shimeyakana shigo no koe”，i.e. he felt the sound to be gentler than Turgenev had intended. He also translated the sound “громко стуча пустой телегой телегой (his empty cart rattling loudly)”into “karaguruma no oto ga koku ni hibikiwatatta.” He perceived the rattling sound of the cart in the space “koku，” that was not mentioned in the original text. FUTABATEI paid more attention to the surrounding “quietness” than to the sound itself. This is typical of the sense of sound found in Japanese literature, like the haiku of MATSUO Basho.

　The description of senses, as in the examples above, is often found in the works of Toson. He learned a new way of describing the sense of sight from Turgenev. And at the same time he maintained the Japanese traditional sense of hearing in his works.

　On trouve divers animaux dans le recueil de poèmes Aiiro no hiki (1936) d’ÔTE Takuji. Les animaux jouent un rôle considérable dans le monde fantasmagorique de ce poète. Dans cet article nous essayons d’analyser la façon dont sont utilisés les animaux dans ce recueil de poèmes en comparaison avec celui des Fleurs du Mal de Baudelaire, qui utilise beaucoup d’animaux surtout comme allégories des éléments naturels chez l’homme.

　Dans Aiiro no hiki aussi on trove un emploi allégorique des animaux, fidèle à la tradition littéraire occidentale. Ainsi l’oiseau, animal le plus souvent utilisé, figure commme allégorie de la liberté ou de la divinité. Le serpent fait allusion au péché originel et le cheval peut être associé à celui de l’Apocalypse.

　Mais, caractéristiques de ce poète japonais sont la comparaîson de la femme à l’oiseau, qui se rencontre dans le curieux mot combiné femme-oiseau (onna-dori), et les caricatures du poète lui-même dans les poèmes du crapaud, de la grenouille ou du crabe. Ces comparaîsons l’une et l’autre expliquent l’intention du poète d’observer et de décrire des choses en détail. Cette intention va, parfois paradoxalement, jusqu’à interdire au poète de définir ce qu'il voit et, dans ce cas-là, le poète est obligé de se contenter de la répétition de l’expression vague et obscure: une chose de... (...no mono), qui dénote la présence de quelque chose d’inexprimable.

　Nakagami Kenji is said to be a novelist who often utilized the alley (“roji”) in his novels. His concept of “roji” was initially associated with the Hisabetsu Buraku (an area where descendants of the lowest social class in the feudal system live together) of his home town, the Kumano District of Kishu (the name of a feudal domain, currently known as Wakayama Prefecture). His novels after “The End of the Earth, Time of Supremacy (Chi-no-Hate, Shijo-no-Toki)” which is a story about the break-up of a “roji”，have been regarded as literary works about “Diaspora”，which is a theme peculiar to Asia. While not wholly neglecting the later novels with Asian themes, critical studies of Nakagami’s works have nevertheless failed to discuss fully the importance of these later works.

　Since the latter half of the 1970s, Nakagami Kenji began to go abroad frequently. The fact that his experiences of different cultures, mainly Korean, exerted a great influence on his understanding of history and on his novels has not been discussed much. As Nakagami Kenji geographically expanded to Asia the concept of “roji”， which was previously limited to his hometown of Kumano in Kisyu, various important problems concerning the spacial representation of alien cultures arose. This is all the more so, because the representation of Asia in contemporary literature cannot be seen as separated from the history of Japan’s imperialistic rule of her colonies and the Great East Asian and Pacific War.

　In this paper, Nakagami Kenji’s experiences in Korea and his construction of space in his later novels will be discussed in relation to his view of Asia and his understanding of its history.

　Kunikida Doppo (1871-1908) was despatched by the Minyusha to accompany Japanese troops during the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), and on his way to the scene of the fighting, he stopped along the banks of the Taedong River. This was the first time in his life that he had set foot upon Korean soil and he had a sense of sorrow for the Koreans he watched, peacefully going about their business, as they had no way of knowing what was to befall their country. The Koreans he saw at that point left upon him an unforgettable impression. Some years later，in his “Shonen no Hiai” he portrayed a poor Japanese who was drifting through Korea, and later, in his “Kikyorai” he portrayed Japanese who were making their living in the Korean trade and these stories brought back the memories of the Koreans he had seen but could not forget during his days as a war correspondent. With his views of Korea and her people, his literature transcended time and national boundaries, being read by many students of modern Korean literature. However, not only did this give him the chance to be accepted but it also enabled a distinction to be drawn between his and other Japanese works of that era.

　Doppo developed a new style of short novels, opening a new field in the process of forming modern Japanese literature. His new form of short novel was accepted by Korean and Chinese novelists who were then searching for a new style and he exerted a great influence over their production of modem literature.

　It can now be seen that his international vision, based on the warmth he felt in his heart towards the struggling soldiers, women and children he had seen during the war, provided the Koreans and Chinese who were living under the cruel colonial occupation, with a sense of solidarity and brotherhood and through his new style in writing short novels, he exerted an incalculable influence upon the development of modem East Asian literature.