著者

中村 智

出版者

九州大学

雑誌

Comparatio (ISSN:13474286)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.5, pp.119-130, 2001

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This paper discusses why Shiga Naoya chose to write about Korea then a Japanese colony, in his novel "A dark night's passing". The question is not what part Korea played in the novel, but why Shiga was interested in Korea. A noteworth point is the relationship between Shiga and his friend, Yanagi Muneyohi. Yanagi was a scholar of Korean ceramics. In the 1930s, he criticized, through critical essays, in a roundabout way, the then Japanese Government for not considering and working for Korea sufficiently. One of the reasons Shiga wrote about Korea was that he shared Yanagi's opinion and wished to assist Yanagi's work. However, a more significant reason was that Shiga wanted to get readers of his own work to face the situation in Korea. He chose a different way from Yanagi's. He faced that problem not as an activist but as a novelist.