1998 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

A Reflection On The Discourse Of "Modernity" In English Literary Studies

Research Project

Project/Area Number	09610471
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	英語・英米文学
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo
Principal Investigator	TAKADA Yasunari The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Professor, 大学院・総合文化研究科, 教授 (10116056)
Project Period (FY)	1996 – 1998
Keywords	Modernity / West / English Literature / Japan / Critique of the West / Discourse / Difference / Loewith
Research Abstract	Based on the results of research conducted last year on the functions, latent and visible, of the discourses of "modernity" in English literary studies, the project has looked into the discoursive framework in which the specifically Japanese aspects are activated. The relationships between the Japanese discourse of modernity (JDM) and the western one (WDM) can be classified into three types : (1) Universalist prospect : JDM and WDM are in essentilas the same. (2) Critical communism : JDM and WDM largely overlap each other as academic institutional activities. (3) Differential prospect : JDM and WDM are fundametally different but can be theoretically compared and investigated. As an instance of the third type, the final report deals with Karl Loewith's theory of modernity.