A Study of Japanese Adaptations of Shakespeare's Four Tragedies

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K02449
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: ASHIZU Kaori 神戸大学, 人文学研究科, 教授 (30340425)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: シェイクスピア / 英文学 / 日本文学 / 伝統演劇 / 翻案 / 書き換え / 受容

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Focusing on Japanese adaptations of Shakespeare's four Great Tragedies (especially Hamlet), this study has elucidated the complex mechanisms of "rewriting" at work in the process of adaptation. In the creation of an adaptation, various factors--the adaptor’s personal preferences and situations in which s/he writes, the cultural and social milieu, the ever-changing relationship between Japan and the West (England), and ideological trends at the time, etc. - interact and negotiate in complex ways to produce the text. The adapted works therefore embody complex relationships and attitudes (imitative veneration, opportunistic appropriation, rebellion, ridicule, etc.) toward the original tragedies by the world-famous author of the West. This study has comprehensively clarified the mechanism of the "Japanese" adaptation process of Shakespeare's tragedies through a series of examinations of individual works and comparisons among them.

Free Research Field

イギリス文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は「難しい」「古臭い」と敬遠されがちなシェイクスピアと日本文学・演劇との境界線上にある作品を扱うことにより、＜内向き＞志向の日本人に、シェイクスピアが意外と身近なものであること、そして現在の日本文化・文学が、異文化や外国文学との絶えざる接触・融合・妥協から形成されていることを再認識させ、彼らの意識や関心を＜外なるもの＞＜異なるもの＞へ向けさせることができるところに意義がある。さらに、英語論文によって、日本のシェイクスピア受容・翻案を知り得ない海外の人々にもひろく情報発信できた点にも意義が認められる。