A Multi-Perspective Study of 20th Century Chinese Familiar Essay -- Cross-borderness and Modernity in the Formation and Establishment of the colloquial journals and textbooks

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12311
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 02020:Chinese literature-related
• Research Institution: The University of Kitakyushu
• Principal Investigator: TORIYA Mayumi 北九州市立大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (00580507)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 小品文 / 中国 / 口語文 / 中華民国 / 日本 / 国語教科書 / 投稿雑誌

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study reveals that in the 20th century, the Chinese Familiar Essay were widely disseminated and utilized by boys and girls, along with the development of education, literature, and publishing. In China, not only were they characterized as studies of theirs writing, as in the case of the Japanese Familiar Essay, but they were also used in Chinese language education as part of modern education, where they were submitted to school magazines and journal submissions, competing with others in terms of accuracy and interesting content. Boys and girls began to express their own inner worlds and to think about the inner worlds of others, while adults also came to know the thoughts of young people. Some of the authors of these essays became teachers, literary figures, and politicians. The impact of the Chinese short stories on society, culture, and people is not small.

Free Research Field

中国現代文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、中国の多様な領域で漠然と用いられてきた用語「小品文」のひとつに日本小品文が直接関係していたことを端緒として（鳥谷2013）、それが20世紀中国の文学、教育、出版メディアの発展に伴って、広く少年少女に浸透し活用されていたことを明らかにした。その越境的特徴は、まさに現代中国の「近代」の歩みのひとつを示唆するものである。しかしながら、中華人民共和国の誕生とともにそれは突如として姿を消すこととなった。本研究によって、埋もれつつある20世紀中国の近代化のひとつの様相に光を当てえたと言えよう。また、日本小品文が広く東アジアに伝播した可能性を示した点においても学術的意義は小さくない。