A Study of the Correlation between Blake Studies and Japonism in Late Nineteenth-Century Britain

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24520273
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: SATO Hikari 東京大学, 総合文化研究科, 准教授 (80296011)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 英文学 / 比較文学 / ウィリアム・ブレイク / 柳宗悦

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project has illustrated that Blake studies and Japonism in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Britain are correlated with each other and show themselves as two sides of the same coin, seen from the viewpoint of cultural phenomena. The conclusion is summarized in the following three points. First, Blake scholars in Japan exchanged their publications with those in Britain and that they formed an international network of Blake researches at that time. Secondly, this network is traced back to Rossetti brothers who highly evaluated Blake and Japanese prints as an art of intuition, a form of art which is directly repugnant to the tradition of European art. Thirdly, YANAGI Munyoshi and Laurence Binyon, two key figures in this network, knew each other as friends and discussed Blake and Japanese art in the context of comparative cultural studies.

Free Research Field

英文学