A Study on the Representations of Transfiguration in Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K02363
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: SAKAUCHI FUTOSHI 早稲田大学, 文学学術院, 教授 (60453990)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 変身・変容の表象

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project clarifies the notable uniqueness of representations of bodies in major works of contemporary Anglo-Irish literature and drama, especially major works by W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett. Focusing on works that cast doubt on the traditional Catholic culture in terms of psychological transformation, this project also clarifies that many of such transformations have been described in those works as what can occur in public and semi-public spaces, and, by analyzing the intersection of the theme of transformation and the theme of national regeneration, that many writers, poets, and playwrights tend to focus on the vulnerable, oppressed people, namely the voiceless voice, in Irish society.

Free Research Field

身体表象論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

アイルランド現代文学・演劇の諸作品が、伝統的な倫理観や宗教的潔癖性からの「身体性の軽視や否定」という現実を踏まえつつ、社会的・政治的に抑圧された個人の苦悩や国家的疲弊、社会の周縁に追いやられた女性の窮状やトラウマなどを巡る切迫した身体と変容の表象を生み出してきた過程と諸相を明らかにすることで、新たな知見をもたらした。モダニズム文学や不条理演劇という普遍文学や世界演劇の文脈で読み解く先行研究は、具体的なアイルランド性を軽視することで、植民地として多くを簒奪された国家が生み出してきた文学・演劇作品から、さらに個別性を奪い取るという矛盾を生む一面を持っていたが、この点を解消する新たな視点が得られた。