著者

大場 博幸

出版者

学術雑誌目次速報データベース由来

雑誌

出版研究 (ISSN:03853659)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.32, pp.93-117, 2002

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<p>Discourses on reading published in the Meiji Era are analyzed to show that they reflected the social change of the time. Thirty-three books are examined and can be classified into five categories. The first is the traditional reading of Chinese classics from the Edo Period which disappeard rapidly after the Meiji restoration. Then, the object and method of reading had undergone a radical change in order to satisfy the needs of the emerging middle class. Thus appeared the second type of reading, which pursued acquisition of pragmatic knowledge derived from the modern-Western world, followed by the third, which emphasized efficiency in the way of reading for school success. The fourth reading appeared when the upheavals had almost come to an end and the new class system took shape. It emphasized self-discipline in all aspects of life, including reading, which gave an intellectual and ethical condition to the ordinary, non-elitisitic way of life. The last type contrasts sharply with the fourth. Its purpose is to mold reader's personality through reading of humanistic works. This type was widespread among students in the newly established higher education system.</p>