Romanticism/Totalitarianism in Post-World War II Thought in Japan: Yoichi Nakagawa's_Ten-no Yugao_(Moonflower in Heaven) and Its Audience

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K16682
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Japanese literature
• Research Institution: Naruto University of Education
• Principal Investigator: KURODA SHUNTARO 鳴門教育大学, 大学院学校教育研究科, 准教授 (10646946)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 中河與一 / 「天の夕顔」 / 浪漫主義 / 全体主義

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, I analyzed the meaning of the lasting popularity of Yoichi Nakagawa’s (1897-1994) love story_Ten-no Yugao_(Moonflower in Heaven, 1938), which continued up to the mid-1950s despite Nakagawa’s purge from public service in 1948.
In examining the text itself, I outlined the philosophical background that prepared Nakagawa for writing_Ten-no Yugao_, by referring to magazines he launched before World War II. In addition, I collected and analyzed cotemporary reviews of_Ten-no Yugao_to assess the “horizon of expectations” (Hans Robert Jauss, 1921-97) shared by readers at that time. Through these approaches, I showed that Nakagawa’s romantic/totalitarian concept continued to be latent in people’s minds even after his purge. In other words, I tried to clarify one aspect of the post-war thought in Japan up to the mid-1950s.

Free Research Field

日本近代文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

第二次世界大戦後、中河與一という作家の存在は言論界から封殺され、忘れ去られていった。その一方で、「天の夕顔」というテクストが提供する〈物語〉に対する人々の期待はますます高まっていった。本研究の学術的意義は、そうした特異な状況に注目し、「天の夕顔」の受容層・影響圏の調査結果を踏まえながら、人々の「期待の地平」の変容を測定することで、戦前から戦後にかけた思想状況、及び当時の人々の心性について解明したところにある。