| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,300,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥2,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000)
|
|---|
| Research Abstract |
This study examines the works of Elizabeth Bowen, an Anglo-Irish writer, and those of several British writers including Maria Edgeworth, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Henry James, and E.M.Forster. The culture and literature of the Anglo-Irish "big house" are characteristic of Bowen's art. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between "the culture and literature of the big house" and "the culture of the country house in British literature" in order to reassess Bowen's works, and to give a new frame of reference to the studies of Woolf, James, and Forster.
As Bowen has succeeded the two great traditions of Edgeworth's big house novels and Austen's novels of manners, the head investigator compares Edgeworth's and Austen's novels to discover the characteristics of the culture of the big house and that of the country house. It is argued that the country house in Bowen's literature symbolizes historical continuity, and that the country house in Woolf's literature is also of importance in her conception of history. The investigator demonstrates that James's and Forster's works show a sense of values similar to Bowen's consciousness of tradition and her affection for the tradition, which form a significant core of Bowen's art. She also argues that James could have the same idea as Bowen's in that "fantasies and recollections of the past make it possible for people to escape from cruel realities and fill their empty hearts with something," and that Forster recognizes "the power of the place," especially that of "the traditional countryside in England," as well as the power of an old house.
|
