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Madness and Forgiveness in Joseph Conrad and Rene Magritte

Research Project

Project/Area Number 16K02457
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Section一般
Research Field Literature in English
Research InstitutionThe University of Shiga Prefecture

Principal Investigator

Kaoru Yamamoto  滋賀県立大学, 人間文化学部, 准教授 (50347431)

Project Period (FY) 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 2018: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2017: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Keywordsジョウゼフ・コンラッド / ルネ・マグリット / デリダ / 赦し / 狂気 / 西欧 / アラブ / 和解 / シュールレアリスム / マグリット / ジャン=リュック・ナンシー / 美学 / 笑い / 視覚 / 聴覚 / 声 / 物語 / ジャック・デリダ / 共同体
Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project rethinks the meaning of the title Almayer's Folly in terms of folie as madness, through a dialogue between Conrad's Almayer's Folly and Rene Magritte's La folie Almayer. We read Conrad's first novel along with Magritte's painting with a focus on the image of the roots the two artworks have in common. In thinking of folie as madness, we draw on Jacques Derrida’s notion of "pure" forgiveness as a form of madness, which forgives only the unforgivable. Unconditional forgiveness can take place, "in the face of the impossible," as we discuss, between Arabs, Malays, Europeans, Muslims and Christians in Conrad's Almayer's Folly. It may indeed be madness, on which the Belgian surrealist has also been brooding all his life in a way evocative of a mysterious gentleman in his own painting, Figure Brooding on Madness. This project gave us perspectives through which we can analyze Conrad's other earlier novels (as well as later ones) along with artists working in different media.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

個人の愚行がはっきりと描き切れていないと非難されてきたために過小に評価されてきたコンラッドのデビュー作『オールメイヤーの阿房宮』を、植民地の西欧人が活躍する東洋的異国情緒に満ちた19世紀の冒険物語の亜種としてではなく、ジャック・デリダの「赦し」と(不)可能な和解の概念に依拠しながら、現代の国際社会の緊急の課題である「赦し」の問題、つまり共同体の問題を先取りする革新的な物語として再評価した。西欧の近代的自我という観点から論じられることで長く失敗作とされてきた『オールメイヤーの阿房宮』を、ヨーロッパ大陸の共同体論を頼りに、西欧キリスト教世界とイスラム教圏の和解の問題を先取りしていることを示した。

Report

(4 results)
  • 2018 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2017 Research-status Report
  • 2016 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (9 results)

All 2019 2018 2017 2016

All Journal Article (6 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 1 results,  Peer Reviewed: 6 results) Presentation (2 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 2 results) Book (1 results)

  • [Journal Article] La Folie Almayer: Madness in Conrad and Rene Magritte2019

    • Author(s)
      Kaoru Yamamoto
    • Journal Title

      Some Intertextual Chords of Joseph Conrad's Literary Art. Conrad: Eastern and Western Perspectives

      Volume: 28 Pages: 227-49

    • NAID

      40022357262

    • Related Report
      2018 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] Burns' Burst of Laughter: The Shadow-Line between the Arts2019

    • Author(s)
      Kaoru Yamamoto
    • Journal Title

      L’Epoque Conradienne: Journal of the French Conrad Society

      Volume: 41 Pages: 121-131

    • Related Report
      2018 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] コンラッドとマグリットの『オールメイヤーの阿房宮』 ―浮遊する根のモチーフをたよりに―2019

    • Author(s)
      Kaoru Yamamoto
    • Journal Title

      コンラッド研究

      Volume: 10 Pages: 51-81

    • NAID

      40022357262

    • Related Report
      2018 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] La Folie Almayer: Madness in Conrad and Rene Magritte2019

    • Author(s)
      Kaoru Yamamoto
    • Journal Title

      Conrad: Eastern and Western Perspectives Series.

      Volume: 28 Pages: 150-165

    • NAID

      40022357262

    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] Burns' Burst of Laughter: The Shadow-Line between the Arts2018

    • Author(s)
      Kaoru Yamamoto
    • Journal Title

      L'Epoque Conradienne

      Volume: 45 Pages: 120-134

    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] La Folie Almayer: Madness in Conrad and Rene Magritte2018

    • Author(s)
      Kaoru Yamamoto
    • Journal Title

      Conrad: Eastern and Western Perspectives

      Volume: 印刷中

    • NAID

      40022357262

    • Related Report
      2016 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Burns' Burst of Laughter: The Shadow-Line between the Arts2017

    • Author(s)
      Kaoru Yamamoto
    • Organizer
      University of Limoges, France EA 1087 EHIC (Espaces Humains et Interactions Culturelles) & Societe; Conradienne Francaise, with the support of Associazione Italiana di Studi Conradiani
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] La Folie Almayer: Madness in Conrad and Rene Magritte2016

    • Author(s)
      Kaoru Yamamoto
    • Organizer
      Conrad's Footprints: SIXTH INTERNATIONAL JOSEPH CONRAD CONFERENCE
    • Place of Presentation
      MARIA CURIE-SKOLODOWSKA UNIVERSITY, LUBLIN, POLAND
    • Year and Date
      2016-06-20
    • Related Report
      2016 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Book] Rethinking Joseph Conrad’s Concepts of Community: Strange Fraternity2017

    • Author(s)
      Kaoru Yamamoto
    • Total Pages
      200
    • Publisher
      Bloomsbury Academic
    • ISBN
      9781350090026
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report 2016 Research-status Report

URL: 

Published: 2016-04-21   Modified: 2020-03-30  

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