A Study on Sense of Home in the 19-centuryBritish and American Authors and Their Pacific Representations

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02496
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Yamamoto Taku 金沢大学, 学校教育系, 教授 (10293325)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 英語圏文学 / 太平洋表象 / コロニアリズム / 冒険小説

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study explored the relationship between the representation of the Pacific in literary works and the influence of the writer's or narrator's sense of belonging (sense of home). The target works were novels in English from the 19th to the early 20th century. The stories that reflected the writers' local experiences provided readers with a more realistic topic and descriptions than those based on predecessors' travelogues. However, when viewed from a historical perspective, the genealogy is not linear, from fantasy to realism, but a complex mixture of fiction and reality. This study clarified the correlation between the literary image of the Pacific through the individualized sense of home, and examined the commonalities and differences underlying the Pacific works of Victorian writers.

Free Research Field

英語圏文学における太平洋表象

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

19世紀後半から20世紀初頭にかけて数多く出版された太平洋を舞台とする物語を検証し、作者の太平洋についての認識と作品世界の相同性、およびそれまでの太平洋表象の系譜との差異を明確化した。とりわけ本研究は、先行研究がほとんど扱わなかったLouis Beckeの作品世界の解明に貢献している。また、本研究で検証した物語の太平洋イメージは戦前日本の南洋イメージと深く関係する事項であり、中島敦の南島小説などの解釈にも新たな視点を提供する可能性を有する。