2023 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 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | 比較文学 / 近代ドイツ文学 / 森鴎外 / Theodor Fontane / authority |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
To gain a more comprehensive view of Ogai's evolving attitude towards authority, I have taken a closer look at Kuniyori Yamazaki's studies on Ogai from 1992 to 2007, as well as K. Kracht's "Ogai's Noel" (2007), which emphasises the influence of Christian culture on the author. It also emphasises his acceptance of de facto authority (especially on the part of the government), albeit with spiritual reservation, which is expressed in Ogai's "As if" and in various ways in daily life. I also read through E. Hardy's "King Asoka" (1902), which may have influenced Ogai's idea of an ideal government. In relation to Fontane, I am confident that I now can convincingly argue that authority and the way it is exercised is a major theme in "Effi Briest", if not the most important point.
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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 years - due to an increased administration load which made it impossible to put as much effort into the project as expected.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
It has now become clear that the argument can best be based on the differentiated formulation of various types and areas of authority, which is vividly depicted or hinted at in Fontane's "Effi Briest". While the early Ogai shows the same interest in the reactions of the individual to more or less personal authority, the later Ogai shifts his interest more to the relationship between the individual (especially the intellectual) and state authority. In this respect, it remains to be clarified to what extent Ogai's adoption of Vaihinger's idea of "as if" (1911) actually affects the individual's state of mind in his position in relation to authority, and whether Kracht & Kracht's (2007) insistence on this aspect should therefore be rejected or can be accepted to a certain extent. I am confident that the result of these considerations can be presented at a conference this year and subsequently summarised in an article.
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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 books and one or two domestic travels
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