A Study of Noctes Ambrosice
| Project/Area Number |
14510506
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
英語・英米文学
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
TAKAHASHI Kazuhisa The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Professor, 大学院・人文社会系研究科, 教授 (10108102)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2004
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2004)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
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| Keywords | Enlightenment / optics / illusion / town / city / vernacular / supernatural |
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| Research Abstract |
The urban culture of Edinburgh in the early 19^<th> century, while inheriting a rich legacy of the Scottish Enlightenment, was keenly aware of what was happening in the literary scene of London, which was at that time experiencing the transition from Classicism to Romanticism. It boasted of its refinement and sophistication, but on the other hand it could not get rid of Scottish vernacular styles, which were supposed to be too backward and opposed to refinement. This situation is clearly reflected in Noctes Ambrosiae, an extremely popular serial in Edinburgh Blackwoods Magazine. This fictitious round-table talk had as its principal participants 'Christopher North' (John Wilson) and 'the Shepherd' James Hogg), who provide interesting material for exploring the paradoxes and conflicts inherent in the urban culture, because their role-playing exhibits a strong contrast ; 'North' speaks in what is called Standard English, whereas 'the Shepherd' in broad vernacular. This research focuses on optics as the central arena for a struggle between a rationalist view (shown by 'North') and a traditional view (by 'the Shepherd) on the supernatural. What is to be noted is that the supplement to the 3^<rd> edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1801) and its 4^<th> edition (1810) had much more extensive entries on optical matters than before, and that one enlightening book by David Brewster, a prominent intellectual at that time, detailed optical apparatus which produced 'marvellous' phenomena and explained apparently supernatural events in strictly scientific terms. Referring to these discussions, this research carefully analyses the subtle rendering of the supernatural in Hogg's Three Perils of Man published in 1822, the zenith of Noctes's fame ; 'marvellous' illusions are described, significantly, from two different perspectives represented by 'North' and 'the Shepherd'. This is a ingenious form of retaliation by Hogg, who was basically deformed as 'the Shepherd' in Noctes.
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Report
(4 results)
Research Products
(2 results)
