著者

韓 程善

出版者

日本比較文学会

雑誌

比較文学 (ISSN:04408039)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.48, pp.110-123, 2006-03-31 (Released:2017-06-17)

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The aim of this study is to analyze the impact that cinematic representative techniques had on Edogawa Rampo’s novels. Hitherto, critics tended to recognize the link between Rampo’s no\els and cinema merely because many of Rampo’s works were made into films. However, there has been little focused discourse on what specific effects cinema had on Rampo’s novels and how cinematic expression integrated into his literary style. I begin by describing the process in which cinema developed into an independent art form in the 1920s by conducting an investigation of a number of cinema houses that were newly established during this period. Through an analysis of articles written by literati in Japan during the 1920s I also show how rapid development in cinema influenced contemporary literary circles. Just as many writers were influenced by cinema, Rampo was also strongly drawn to cinema even before he became a writer; this study also reviews Rampo’s unpublished paper which reveals his unique inclination toward cinema that is an important clue to the effective interpretation of his novels. In order to support my argument, I proceed to reinterpret Rampo’s short novel, “Canal on Mars” by investigating the specific influences of cinematic expression that are evident in this short novel. Specifically, I show how “Canal on Mars” integrates the technique of the silent film into its text. I also prove how Rampo attempted to create cinematic expressions into his literary text by using the style of “prose poem.” For instance, Rampo effectively used metaphors in order to express physical “forms” which translated the cinema’s visual expressions into vivid literary representations. In the 1920s, when cinema emerged as a new art form in Japan, literary scholars began to recognize this new type of media as a source from which to experiment and develop new forms of literary expressions. Thus, adopting cinematic expressions into linguistic works became a characteristic phenomenon during this period. In conclusion, I argue that not only does the link between Rampo’s novels and films need to be studied further in order to nurture a more profound understanding of Rampo’s novels but by doing so it also provides an alternative method for examining the artistic interaction between literature and cinema in the 1920s.