I. On the Ukigumo(A Floating Cloud) interrupted in the middle of writing 1) In the memoirs of Futabatei titled Ochiba-no-hakiyose(Stray Leaves), we can find a passage in which the author determines to make a fortune in order to settle the quarrels between his father and mother. In those days, to be a novelist meant to live in poverty, and this was the outward pressure that brought him to an ethical conflict, in which he was confronted with the altenatives……either to pursue his ideals by entering into literary life, or to get the security of living by compromising with stern actualities of life. 2) This conflict is closely connected with his lack of confidence in his ability as a novelist. After all, he cannot attain the national solodarity in love in wpite of his strong wishes, and he cannot step beyond psychological analysis though he warmly aspires to take an action. The uneasiness arising from this conflict is shared both by Bunzo, the hero of the Ukigumo, and by Futabatei, the author of the work. 3) Futabatei, after comparing the idealism in Russian literature with the literature of the Ken-yu-sha school, wrote that a man of letters should be satisfied if he could "find truth, and thereby attain the great calmness of his own mind and help all the people get through the world," adding he could not be confident of achieving those objecs(my italics). It is well known he nourished his literary soul with Russian literature, but, I suspect, he resisted the canon of Russian literature in a way. This is apparent in his words of "attaining the great calmness of his own mind", and the autonomy of literature could not be admitted as long as it remeined indifferent to "all the people". Thus the idea of literature must be introverted into the attainment of the great calmness of mid, which is his own philosophy, before it can help "all the people get through ghe world," which will lead to the happiness of all the nation. 4) The duality of nationalism peculiar to Futabatei and his introverted philosophy, and the process in which he came to rediscover out nation from this radical viewpoint will be discussed in the following chapters.
抄録全体を表示