A Study in Intellectual History of the Relationship between Postwar Japanese Writers and Humanistic Knowledge

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02246
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: History of thought
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: MIZUTAMARI Mayumi 北海道大学, 文学研究院, 教授 (00344531)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 戦争体験 / 教養主義 / 戦後派

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigates the relationship between postwar Japanese writers and humanistic knowledge, focusing on the case of Yoshie Hotta. His experiences during the Fifteen-Year War and his stay in Shanghai before and after Japan’s defeat formed a major basis for his literary activities. In this research, I argued that his education in humanistic knowledge he had acquired in his youth played a crucial role in bringing these experiences into language in his works of literature. To support my argument, I provided an in-depth analysis of his novels taking actual historical events as their subject matter, as well as his biographies and critical essays on writers and artists who lived through times of crisis.

Free Research Field

思想史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的意義は、以下の3点である。①堀田善衞の著作を包括的に検討し、その全体像を示したこと。とりわけ日本と上海における戦争体験と様々な著作との結びつきを、バックグラウンドの考察と作品分析を通じて具体的に明らかにしたこと。②従来、エリート文化として批判的に捉えられることの多かった教養の意義を、堀田善衞の文学活動に即して明らかにしたこと。③教養主義を戦後派共通のバックグラウンドとして位置づけることによって、戦後派作家を再評価する可能性を開いたこと。