著者

泊 功

出版者

函館工業高等専門学校

雑誌

函館工業高等専門学校紀要 (ISSN:02865491)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.47, pp.81-88, 2013

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Natsume Soseki wrote "Travel Notes of Manchuria and Korea" in 1910. In this work has several phrases which are considered by some to be discriminatory examples being; such as "There are a lot of Chinese Coolies here. Looking at one Coolie makes me feel dirty, and looking at two Coolies makes me feel repulsed." With regard to such expressions, some Japanese researchers defend Soseki, but other researchers from former colonies have a critical attitude toward them. For example, one Japanese researcher, Tatsuo Aoyagi has said that we should not apply our present sense of human rights to Soseki's expressions in that work. He does not think that such phrases indicate that Soseki has a sense of discrimination. On the other hand, a Korean researcher Pak Yunhe and a Chinese researcher Wang Cheng insist that Soseki is discriminatory. However, an American researcher Joshua A.Fogel who has no direct relation with the colonial situation thinks that it is meaningless to consider whether Soseki had a good feeling or antipathy towards China. While taking their arguments into account, in this paper, the author discusses Soseki's so-called discriminatory expressions in his "Travel Notes of Manchuria and Korea", and presents the idea that the writing style, that is the Shaseibun-style may be cause of this discriminatory impression.