Comprehensive study in diverse forms and functions of the use of fiction in the Enlightenment

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24242003
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: History of thought
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo (2013-2015); Osaka University (2012)
• Principal Investigator: SAITO Sho 東京大学, 総合文化研究科, 准教授 (20314411)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): GOTO Masahide 佐賀大学, 文化教育学部, 准教授 (60447985) ; KUBO Akihiro 関西学院大学, 文学部, 准教授 (60432324) ; OKI Sayaka 広島大学, 大学院総合科学研究科, 准教授 (60536879) ; OSAKI Sayano 東京藝術大学, 音楽学部, 講師 (80646513) ; SUGA Rie 三重大学, 人文学部, 准教授 (50534492) ; TAKEDA Masaaki 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 准教授 (10434177) ; UEMURA Toshiro 獨協大学, 外国語学部, 専任講師 (20624662)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 思想史 / フィクション / 啓蒙 / 18世紀

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project aims to examine various forms of fictional discourse in 18th-century Europe and to investigate systematically into the roles they played in the political, social and cultural contexts of the Enlightenment. Fictional texts (dialogues, letters or diaries) were put into use not only in the realm of literature in a narrow sense, but also in a wide range of social fields such as religion, metaphysics, natural sciences, law and politics. Different types of fiction and their functions in the process of communication were discussed thoroughly, while the prominent contemporary theories of fiction were considered in order to attain an appropriate conceptional framework for a historiographical research of fictional discourse.

Free Research Field

哲学、思想史