A Comprehensive Study of Wartime Representations of "Japanese Science" and the Discourse Activities of Literary Scholars

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19980
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0102:Literature, linguistics, and related fields
• Research Institution: Ochanomizu University
• Principal Investigator: Kato Yumezo お茶の水女子大学, 基幹研究院, 助教 (90906207)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 日本科学 / 横光利一 / 中河與一 / 戸坂潤 / 海野十三

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The paper reveals that the concept of "Japanese science" widely influenced the speech activities of literary scholars during the wartime period. Specifically, we showed that the theme of the conflict between the universal and the particular was found in Yokomitsu Riichi's novels of the latter half of the war, such as "Tabi-shoso" and "Sansho", and that this theme was closely related to the contemporary discourse on "Japanese science".
The study concluded that examining the cultural expansion of "Japanese science," which was the subject of sustained discussion during and after the war and was the subject of numerous debates involving literary scholars, would provide an opportunity to reconsider the linkage of ideas during and after the war, which is often pointed out as being disconnected, in a more pluralistic way.

Free Research Field

日本近代文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、戦時下における文学者たちの言論活動を、さまざまな同時代の思想的文脈に定位しなおそうとするものであり、各々の内在的な作品分析を、より学際的な研究領域へと繋いでいくだけの意義を持つものである。特に、横光利一の後期小説については、従来単なるファナティックな情念が先行しており思弁性が過ぎるものだと指摘されていたが、その方法意識が、共時的な背景を持つものであったことを明らかにすることで、より解釈の枠組みを拡げていくことに成功した。