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A Historical Study on the Origins of the Apprentice Novel of Charles Dickens

Research Project

Project/Area Number 07610474
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Research Field 英語・英米文学
Research InstitutionTohoku Gakuin University

Principal Investigator

HARA Eiichi  Tohoku Gakuin University, Division of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (40106745)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) ENDO Kenichi  Tohoku Gakuin University, Division of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (20118326)
Project Period (FY) 1995 – 1997
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 1997)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000)
Fiscal Year 1995: ¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
KeywordsCharles Dickens / apprentice / Bildungsroman / carnival / city comedy / English Novel / woman / 犯罪者 / 従弟 / Daniel Defoe / George Lillo
Research Abstract

Some novels of Charles Dickens have often been described as specimens of the Bildungsroman. However, the idea of the genre that was imported from Germany through the translation of Goethe's Wilhelm Meister by Carlye can hardly be illuminating, even useful, in assessing the intricate substrata of Dickens's fiction. In this research the Apprentice Novel, a term used by Susanne Howe as equivalent to the Bildungsroman, is redefined as a genre dating from the birth of the English Novel itself. If the Apprentice Novel is redefined simply as fiction representing the figure of the apprentice, its origins can go back as far as the city comedies of Elizabethan era. The apprentice has a peculiarly divided character. He is an integral part of the emergent capitalist society, firmly incorporated into the guild structure of the merchant class of the City. On the other hand, he is often attracted to those subversive forces that are at work inside his body. He is usually a youth coming from the country and is susceptible to the lures of the city such as loose women, drinking and playing. He could go up the social ladder and be a Lord Mayor, but he could also fall into the abyss of decadence. In short the apprentice is a figure of Bakhtinian carnival in which the forces of civilization and decadence are striving to dominate. In this sense female protagonists can also be regarded as apprentices. By tracing the figure of the apprentice through Elizabethan, Jacobean and Restoration drama to the rise of the novel, it has become apparent that the Apprentice Novel is located at the heart of the great tradition of the English Novel.

Report

(4 results)
  • 1997 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report Summary
  • 1996 Annual Research Report
  • 1995 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (6 results)

All Other

All Publications (6 results)

  • [Publications] 原 英一: "女性による王政復古期劇場の征服について" 東北学院大学論集-英語英文学-. 89巻. 31-65 (1998)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      1997 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Publications] 原 英一(編): "Enlightened Groves:Essays in Honour of Professor Zenzo Suzuki" 松柏社, 440 (1996)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      1997 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Publications] Eiichi Hara: "On the Establishment of Female Ascendacy in Restoration Drama" Tohoku Gakuin University Review (English Language and Literature). Vol.89. 31-65 (1998)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      1997 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Publications] Eiichi Hara et al eds: Enlightened Groves : Essays in honour of Professor Zenzo Suzuki. Shohakusha, 440 (1996)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      1997 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Publications] 原英一: "女性による王政復古期劇場の征服について" 東北学院大学論集-英語英文学-. 89巻. 31-65 (1998)

    • Related Report
      1997 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] 遠藤健一: "範疇化の病-ユートピアとしてのフウィヌムのディストピア性" 日本18世紀学会年報. 11. 17-19 (1996)

    • Related Report
      1996 Annual Research Report

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Published: 1995-04-01   Modified: 2016-04-21  

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