2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Loyalty, authority, and the demand of freedom: a comparative study in Japanese and German literature around 1900 based on a theory of recognition
| Project/Area Number |
19K00521
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| Research Institution | Hiroshima University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | 比較文学 / 近代ドイツ文学 / Mori Ogai / Fontane / authority |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
As I was asked to participate in a book project research related activities in FY 2022 concentrated on preparing a Japanese article on Fontane’s novel "Cecile“ from the angle of the connections between observation, inference, and emotion, especially the fundamental emotional states and cognitive biases that are leading to reality composition in the protagonists mind. The study is related to Fontane’s view of loyalty and the difficulty to maintain it which is a matter of concern for protagonists in several of Ogai’s novels, too.
Remaining time was dedicated to reconsider to socio-biological foundation of values like authority and loyalty as set out by J. Haidt (2012) compared to the more detailed depiction in M. Tomasello (2014).
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
4: Progress in research has been delayed.
Reason
Delay is - as in the previous year - due to an increased administration load, and above all, the changes in class preparation caused by the shift to online teaching durnig the corona crises. Therefore the expected effort level could not be reached.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The preparation of the above mentioned article in the end did presume more time than expected, the plan for the final year includes many tasks of the previous year: It is still necessary to look at Ogai’s “Oshio Heihachiro“ and (its relation to Goethe’s "Goetz von Berlichingen“) has to be assessed. As the subjects of a comparison, Fontane’s novels "Vor dem Sturm“ and “Quitt” are indispensable, as far as the treatment of uprisings, personal as well as in groups, and the underlying causes are concerned. To work out the implications for the understanding of the legitimate and appropriate ways to exercise authority in both authors shall be the basis on which a final attempt to assess especially the interconnection between authority and disengagement in their works. While many aspects are of political nature (prominently discussed in Ogai’s “As if” and others), focusing on "Maihime“ and Fontane’s "Effi Briest“ will also reveal the more subtle social traits of the authoritarian characters in each novel’s protagonist.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Delay in research and almost no travel expense.
Most of the remaining budget is planned to be spent for book and one or two domestic travels.
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