International Circulation of Stories in the Late 19th Century and Meiji Literature; The Relationship between the Translations of Shiken and Ruiko and Newspaper Editing

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00290
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02010:Japanese literature-related
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Baba Mika 筑波大学, 人文社会系, 准教授 (90405548)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 明治文学 / 新聞小説 / 『郵便報知新聞』 / 森田思軒 / 原抱一庵 / 新聞『国会』 / 幸田露伴 / 泉鏡花

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigates and examines the relationship between newspapers and novels, which is characteristic of modern Japanese literature, with particular attention to novels from the mid-Meiji period. The publication of Morita Shiken's translated novels in the Yubin Hochi Shimbun was actively introduced to provide readers with international knowledge. It allowed readers to critically understand the reality of Japanese society as provided by the paper, but the content and expressions were highly edited for this purpose. This close interlocking relationship between the newspaper pages and the novel is thought to have influenced the creativity of the writers who later became novelists as newspaper employees. Another achievement of the research process was the immediate restoration of the newspaper context, which provided a new perspective on the evaluation of newspaper fiction.

Free Research Field

日本近代文学（明治文学）

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的意義は、19世紀後半における国際的な物語流通を背景に、新聞記事の批評として翻訳小説が密接に関係するに至ったことを、森田思軒と『郵便報知新聞』の実態から明らかにしたことである。この意味で思軒の「炭鉱秘事」はもっとも成功した翻訳かつ編集であり、この試みが新聞読者に与えたインパクトは大きかった。思軒の成功は、後の小説家たちにも影響を及ぼしているといえ、たとえば幸田露伴の「五重塔」もまた新聞紙面と連動していた。新聞小説の議論は通俗性に回収されやすい。だが、明治中期という改良の時代においては、社会的言説との関係において多様な試みが目論まれた最先端の実験場でもあったことを改めて提示したい。