著者

Williams Mark

出版者

国文学研究資料館

雑誌

国際日本文学研究集会会議録 = PROCEEDINGS OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON JAPANESE LITERATURE (ISSN:ISSN0387)

巻号頁・発行日

no.29, pp.163-171, 2006-03-01

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During the course of the past century, Japan confronted the whole gamut of historical, political and economic experience - and this has made the question of what makes a person ‘Japanese’ an important area of intellectual endeavor. In this paper, I shall be examining the various ways in which Japanese authors of the twentieth century have approached the task of defining the ‘Self’ - through an examination of the various ‘Others’ they have established for this purpose. Broadly speaking, these can be divided into three categories : ‘external Others’ (i.e. those established by authors confronting the world beyond Japan’s boundaries: e.g. Nagai Kafû, Endô Shûsaku, Yokomitsu Riichi, etc. ); ‘internal Others’ (i.e. those whose identities are often constructed in terms of being Other to some Japanese ‘norm’: e.g. the burakumin, those of ambivalent sexualities, those left behind by the ‘economic miracle’, the deracinated postwar population, zainichi-Kankokujin writers, and women writers). Finally, I shall consider the possibility of some liminal, middle ground-by examining those who are not ethnically Japanese but who have at some time assumed or been forced to assume a Japanese identity due to historical circumstance (e.g. Okinawan literature, zainichi literature, Taiwanese literature written in Japanese). By exploring the nature of the Japanese identity these authors have assumed, we are returned, whether consciously or not, to a consideration of the cultural identity of Japan.