A Study on Naka Kansuke's Works during and Post World War Two.

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00329
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02010:Japanese literature-related
• Research Institution: Komazawa Women's University (2023); Tokyo City University (2019-2022)
• Principal Investigator: Omori Hidemi (木内英実) 駒沢女子大学, 公私立大学の部局等, 教授 (70331501)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 中勘助 / 教科書教材 / 児童文学 / 印度哲学 / JATAKA / 「マハーバーラタ」 / 国際性 / 第二次世界大戦

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The use of Naka-Kansuke literature as textbook material before and during World War II led to the evaluation of children's literature works after the war. As the source of inspiration for the children's literature works, "Tori no Monogatari (Tales of Birds)," a series of works published from 1932 to 1963, "Shika no Ohanashi(Tales of Deer)," "Usagi no Ohanashi (Tales of Rabbit)," and "GoshikiNo Shika (The Deer of Five Colors)," published in magazines during and after World War II, were found to have been based on the Jataka texts, and "Yamagatsu to Hashibami" and "Suzushiki Kage (The Shade of Trees)" were found to be based on the Mahabharata and Hitopadesha. The origin of the humanism in his works, in which the animals and trees share compassion for humans and give them life, as in The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and Die Konferenza Der Tiere by E. Kastner, is found in ancient Indian philosophy, and is the reason for the international perspective of this work.

Free Research Field

日本文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

中勘助の戦中戦後の児童文学業績を、中勘助文学資料館所蔵の手書き資料及び旧蔵書から実証的に解明したこと、日本近現代文学研究の視座だけでなく印度學佛教學研究の視座から解明しその研究成果発表も日本近現代文学分野及び印度學佛教學研究分野に亘ったこと、児童文学という方法の優位性即ち戦中戦後の検閲制度のある出版統制下で体制批判につながる内容も「今昔物語集」等説話文学に依る古典的児童文学の形式を用いると思想性が目立たなかったこと、等長きに亘り「書きたいことを書く」という独自の姿勢を貫いた作家の創作の秘密に重層的に迫ることが出来た。戦争詩に繋がる戦中の創作姿勢を戦中の生活感に富む中勘助の作句から考察した。