著者
川野 芽生
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.59, pp.22-36, 2017-03-31 (Released:2020-04-01)

The Japanese translation of The Lord of the Rings by Seta Teiji is criticized to be too ‘Japanesque' and incoherent as to his choice of word used to translate the place-names in the text. He has translated some place-names by sense, but others phonetically. However, this incoherence and Japanization is deliberate. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, has set a strict rule about nomenclature in the text. He has used multiple languages to name places in the Middle-earth, his invented world. This multilingualism shows the variety of peoples living in the world. He has written a guide to the names in this novel for the use of translators of this novel and has said in it that names consisted of present-day English vocabulary should be translated into the language of translation according to their meaning and the others should be left unchanged. The apparent incoherency of Seta's translation has come from his following this rule. In addition, he has distinguished names to be translated word-forword from names to be modified to give them an appearance of actual Japanese names. He has translated nonliterally the tongue of Hobbits, through whose eyes the events are reported, thus making readers feel that they are familiar, while Common Speech has been translated literally. Though Hobbiton in the Middle-earth can be identified with England, Tolkien gives greater importance to the universality of his imaginary world than to the Englishness of it. Seta's Japanization of the world is a response to Tolkien's choice.
著者
木村 直恵
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.45, pp.7-22, 2003

<p> "Critique" est un mot couramment employé dans la langue japonaise d'aujourd'hui. Mais c'est seulement à partir de la seconde moitié des années 1880 que ce mot a commencé à se répandre et à être utilisé dans le sens moderne. Ce qui ne signifie pas simplement que le mot "critique" s'est mis à circuler; mais aussi que la "critique" en tant que pratique productrice de discours est apparue au sein de l'espace du discours dans la langue japonaise. Mais comment ce nouveau discours, cette nouvelle pratique ont-ils gagné leur place dans cet espace? Nous essayons dans cet article d'éclaircir ce processus, en englobant l'ensemble des mécanismes des discours de l'époque et de ses pratiques.</p><p> Dans cet article, nous avons surtout examiné l'origine de la "critique" par rapport à un autre discours-pratique, apparemment loin de la "critique" :l'"amélioration". L'"amélioration" était un discours-pratique qui est devenu central après la fin du "mouvement de la liberté politique et du droit civil" Contrairement au "mouvement de la liberté politique et du droit civil" qui se focalisait uniquement sur le domaine politique, l'"amélioration" prétendait intervenir, en dehors de la politique, sur un espace plus large: la "société". Ce fut aussi une étape de concrétisation du concept de la "société"</p><p> Les premiers acteurs de la "critique",Tubouchi Shôyô et Takata Sanaé, l'ont initiée , tout en se chargeant de la pratique de l'"amélioration",et tout en critiquant vivement la pratique dominante de l'"amélioration" en vigueur. Ils ont entretenu un rapport profond avec la formation du roman moderne et, dans cette opération, ils ont recomposé la conception de la "société",et ont suscité le démembrement de la pratique de l'"amélioration",avec la naissance de la "critique". C'est dans cette large perspective que l'on arrive à tracer historiquement la naissance du discours-pratique de la "critique"</p>
著者
中丸 禎子
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.58, pp.7-23, 2016-03-31 (Released:2018-10-30)

Many studies of mermaids in literature discuss femininity, otherness, and the impossibility of communication between merfolk and human beings. They operate on the assumption that merfolk are mainly mermaids, although there are examples of mermen in many European legends, European literature, and natural history. In this paper, I discuss the transition of merfolk in natural history. In the ancient times, witnesses' accounts of the males Triton and Nereus were introduced. In the Medieval Bestiary, female Sirens were pagan others who seduced men. During the Renaissance, naturalists depicted merfolk with anatomical descriptions and detailed views based on reports of merfolk “mummies" and “bones" from all over the world. People regarded manatees as merfolk and classified both as fish. Carl von Linné created the concept of Mammalia, reclassified manatees into this new group, and removed Sirens from his Systema Naturae. Naturalists in the 18th century thus denied the existence of merfolk. In The Animal Kingdom, George Cuvier wrote that people mistook manatees for mermaids because they have two breasts and feed their young with their own milk. Behind this idea is the modern view of women and family: breastfeeding is the role of the mother, not a wet nurse. Breastfeeding shows the “ideal" maternal instinct or bestiality in female manatees, mermaids, and women, who have the same upper bodies as mermaids. Through its representation of mermaids, natural history underlined the commonality of manatees as beasts and human females and gave the “scientific" endorsement of mermaids' otherness, inability to communicate verbally, and “femininity."
著者
山中 由里子
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.35, pp.117-128, 1993-03-31 (Released:2017-06-17)

In 1879 in St. Petersburg, Nâser al-Din Shāh of Persia, on his way home from Europe, received the Japanese Ambassador Plenipotentiary to Russia, Enomoto Takeaki, in audience and expressed his intention of entering into diplomatic and commercial relations with Japan. Upon his return to Japan, Enomoto suggested the dispatch of a mission, and a small delegation headed by Yoshida Masaharu of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accompanied by Noriyoshi Furukawa of the General Staff Office, Yokoyama Magoichiro and Tuchida Masajiro of Okura and Co., and four other merchants was sent to Iran in 1880. This delegation was entrusted with only commercial research on the Persian trade. Travel books published by both Yoshida and Furukawa record their hard journey through Iran, introduce the Iranian culture, history, and religion (which was virtually unknown to the Japanese at that time), as well as give valuable information on the domestic situation in Qajar Persia. In this paper I shall compare the experience of the Iwakura delegation, who visited Europe and the United States, to that of Yoshida, who visited Iran which was, like Meiji Japan, still in the process of modernization. Unlike the Iwakura delegation, Yoshida’s mission did not bring back any practical information for the modernization of Japan. However, in Iran, Yoshida had a chance to actually witness serious problems which resulted from the superficial imitation of western culture, and he realized the dangers that his own country could face, of losing its own identity in the process of modernization. Historically, Asia has long been a menace to Australia, a white nation isolated in the Asiatic quarter of the world. Porter could be said to have expressed this typical feeling, whereas Herbert seeks rather for the means to unite his home with Asia, in the search for a new Australian identity.
著者
レッキー・ リチャード・ウィリアム
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.63, pp.38-51, 2021-03-31 (Released:2022-04-30)

This paper examines the social consciousness of Hirabayashi Hatsunosuke's mystery novels. The pre-eminent literary critic of Japanese proletarian literature in its early days, Hirabayashi became disillusioned with the movement after the Great Kantō Earthquake and gravitated instead toward popular literature, particularly Japan's nascent mystery genre. His third mystery novel, Giseisha (“Victim"), tells the story of a low-ranking office worker who is arrested on a false murder charge and languishes in detention with little hope for release. With its unresolved ending and skeptical view of the criminal justice system, Giseisha is said to be influenced by Edogawa Ranpo's Ichimai no Kippu (“One Ticket"), a work which takes its basic concept from Arthur Conan Doyle's The Problem of Thor Bridge but adds a surprise ending which leaves the story's entire resolution in doubt. However, Giseisha also shows the influence of criticisms of the mystery genre by proletarian writers such as Maedakō Hiroichirō and Makimoto Kusurō, who argued that mysteries glorify a legal system which is profoundly biased against the proletariat and maintains the hegemony of the ruling class over the subordinate classes. Maedakō looked to Anatole France's humorous short story Putois and its satirical view of crime as a model for a more socially conscious type of mystery. In the same way, Hirabayashi looked to Anatole France's L'Affaire Crainquebille, a satire of the infamous Dreyfus Affair, as inspiration while writing Giseisha, not only referring to Crainquebille by name but also basing part of Giseisha‘s story on it.
著者
跡上 史郎
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.41, pp.49-62, 1999-03-31 (Released:2017-06-17)

«Kenrô-toshi : Kunopolis» (1960) est une des rares œuvres romanesques du jeune SHIBUSAWA. L’auteur prétend que «Le Diamant» (1959) d’André Pieyre de Mandiargues fut une de sources de cette œuvre. C’est une œuvre qui vaut la peine d’être étudiée de près,car, différentes opinions s’opposent à son sujet : certains critiques la considèrent comme un chef-d’œuvre, tandis que d’autres se demandent s’il ne s’agit pas d’un plagiat. Il semble que cette question du manque d’originalité ne concerne pas seulement «Kenrô-toshi» : on trouve le même problème à travers toutes ses œuvres romanesques. Nous considérons donc que c’est une problématique fondamentale de l’écriture de SHIBUSAWA. Dans «Kenrô-toshi», déjà, nous pouvons trouver presque tous les éléments typiques de l'univers littéraire de SHIBUSAWA. Par exemple, SHIBUSAWA emprunte au «Diamant» l'épisode d'un dieu animal et d’une fille qui ont une relation sexuelle dans un diamat, c’est-à-dire un espace géométrique. Nous pouvons trouver, dans l’œuvre de Mandiargues, de nombreux motifs géométriques dans des situations fantastiques et féeriques. La fréquence et la disposition de ces motifs dans «Le Diamant» sont significatives, car ils sont disposés, semble-t-il, de façon à ce que l'ensemble du texte présente une structure. Dans «Kenrô-toshi» également, il est vrai que l'on peut trouver des motifs géométriques, mais il est difficile de considérer qu’ils forment une structure. SHIBUSAWA ne comprenait pas sans doute la structure géométrique de l’ensemble du «Diamant», ou ne s'y intéressait pas. En s'inspirant du «Diamant», il a néanmoins composé «Kenrô-toshi» comme une œuvre d’un esprit tout à fait différent. SHIBUSAWA a créé un univers bizarré et déformé, dans lequel la cause et le résultat sont circulaires : on peut trouver plusieurs niveaux de rêves, et le rêve et la réalité s’entrecroisent ainsi que dans un tableau d’illusion visuelle. SHIBUSAWA cite aussi, ouvertement ou tacitement, d'utres œuvres littéraires que «Le Diamant», pour complexifier son propre univers romanesque. Nous avons donc considéré que «Kenrô-toshi» ne trouve en aucun cas sa place dans la lignée du «Diamant». SHIBUSAWA et Pieyre de Mandiargues diffèrent de nature, bien que l’on fasse fréquemment remarquer plutôt leurs ressemblances.
著者
木村 直恵
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.45, pp.7-22, 2003

<p> "Critique" est un mot couramment employé dans la langue japonaise d'aujourd'hui. Mais c'est seulement à partir de la seconde moitié des années 1880 que ce mot a commencé à se répandre et à être utilisé dans le sens moderne. Ce qui ne signifie pas simplement que le mot "critique" s'est mis à circuler; mais aussi que la "critique" en tant que pratique productrice de discours est apparue au sein de l'espace du discours dans la langue japonaise. Mais comment ce nouveau discours, cette nouvelle pratique ont-ils gagné leur place dans cet espace? Nous essayons dans cet article d'éclaircir ce processus, en englobant l'ensemble des mécanismes des discours de l'époque et de ses pratiques.</p><p> Dans cet article, nous avons surtout examiné l'origine de la "critique" par rapport à un autre discours-pratique, apparemment loin de la "critique" :l'"amélioration". L'"amélioration" était un discours-pratique qui est devenu central après la fin du "mouvement de la liberté politique et du droit civil" Contrairement au "mouvement de la liberté politique et du droit civil" qui se focalisait uniquement sur le domaine politique, l'"amélioration" prétendait intervenir, en dehors de la politique, sur un espace plus large: la "société". Ce fut aussi une étape de concrétisation du concept de la "société"</p><p> Les premiers acteurs de la "critique",Tubouchi Shôyô et Takata Sanaé, l'ont initiée , tout en se chargeant de la pratique de l'"amélioration",et tout en critiquant vivement la pratique dominante de l'"amélioration" en vigueur. Ils ont entretenu un rapport profond avec la formation du roman moderne et, dans cette opération, ils ont recomposé la conception de la "société",et ont suscité le démembrement de la pratique de l'"amélioration",avec la naissance de la "critique". C'est dans cette large perspective que l'on arrive à tracer historiquement la naissance du discours-pratique de la "critique"</p>
著者
三田 順
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.51, pp.21-35, 2009-03-31 (Released:2017-06-17)

Cette étude traite de l’écrivain Georges Rodenbach (1855-1898) et du peintre Xavier Mellery (1845-1921), et prend en considération les correspondances entre les oeuvres de ces deux symbolistes belges. Bien qu’un rapport direct n'ait jamais été décelé entre ceux-ci, les oeuvres de Mellery montrent une analogie étonnante, comme si elles étaient la paraphrase picturale de la « ville morte grise » que Rodenbach avait si souvent décrite. On mettra d’abord en lumière le « mythe nordique » représenté dans les oeuvres littéraires de Rodenbach. Celui-ci est notamment évoqué par l’image de Bruges en tant que la ville morte du Nord; image fort appréciée auprès de ses lecteurs principaux, les parisiens, pour son « exotisme du Nord ». Ainsi, on comparera Mellery et Rodenbach en se concentrant sur les similarités de ces deux évocations de l’image nordique. Quand Rodenbach veut souligner la particularité de la culture flamande, il mentionne et loue souvent l'art des primitifs flamands. Toutefois, le monde grisaille et désert de Rodenbach est plus précisément représenté dans L’Âme des choses, la série de dessins clairs-obscurs de Xavier Mellery. En outre, L’Âme des choses, qui dépeint des sujets quotidiens de façon réaliste dans le cadre du symbolisme, hérite de la tradition réaliste de la « peinture du Nord » et on peut trouver de nombreux peintres symbolistes montrant pareille inclination artistique dans l’école belge. Rodenbach et Mellery créèrent ainsi une expression analogue au travers de deux disciplines distinctes en se rattachant tous deux au « Nord »; cette tendance commune pent en effet être considérée en tant que l’« esprit du temps » dans le symbolisme belge.
著者
里見 繁美
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.44, pp.99-111, 2002-03-31 (Released:2017-06-17)

There are significant similarities in the versions of the Urashima legend as told by Lafcadio Hearn and by Washington Irving. As a matter of fact, Hearn was so taken by Chamberlain’s version of “Urashima” that when he wrote “The Dream of a Summer Day” he attempted his own analysis of the Urashima legend. Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” is often described as an American “Urashima” story by several scholars, including Mori Ogai. Hearn felt the same way but indicates Irving’s “The Adalantado of the Seven Cities” has more similarities than that of “Rip Van Winkle.” Hearn suggests, “There is another, much more like the story of 'Urashima' than 'Rip Van Winkle' is... I am sure that... you will agree with me... that it bears a very strong resemblance to the story of 'Urashima.'”This commentary is crucial if we intend to understand Hearn’s ideas concerning the Urashima legend, as well as one of the main motifs of his own stories. Hearn’s greatest interest in “Adalantado” was its theme of betrayal, which is also true of “Urashima.” However,there is no such element in “Rip.” This is why Hearn indicates an association with “Adalantado” to the Urashima legend rather than “Rip.” Specifically, the betrayal between men and women is a key aspect to consider in the analysis of Hearn in works such as Yukionna and his interpretation of the Urashima legend.
著者
秋草 俊一郎
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.57, pp.51-65, 2014-03-31 (Released:2018-05-26)

In this paper I propose to examine the myth that the Harvard Classics (1909-1910) directly influenced the development of the enpon zenshū (oneyen books, a collection of inexpensive volumes published in the late 1920s). I intend to do so through investigating the similarity between the Harvard Classics and two enpon, Kaizō-sha’s Gendai nihon bungaku zenshū (1926) and Shinchō-sha's Sekai bungaku zenshū (1927). In his memoir, the editor and critic Ki Kimura (1894-1979) revealed “the origin of the enpon zenshū.” Having purchased a set of the second edition of the Harvard Classics, Kimura approached Sanehiko Yamamoto (1885-1952), the president of the Japanese publishing house, Kaizō-sha, and suggested the possibility of publishing a similar collection in Japan. Yamamoto immediately hit upon the idea of the enpon as a multi-volume anthology of Japanese contemporary literature, which went on to attract many readers and to generate incredible sales. Kimura also suggested the idea of the huge anthology to an editor at Shinchō-sha. In addition, Kimura clearly asserted that Gendai nihon bungaku zenshū 's formal structure and content were designed after the model of the Harvard Classics. While the avid editor Kimura wished to dignify and canonize his own collections by drawing on the prestige of the Harvard brand, a close comparison of these monumental anthologies suggests that the Harvard Classics in fact had little influence on the enpon zenshū. Perhaps more interesting, however, are the similar cultural and pedagogical shifts (e.g., the general public’s aspiration for higher education) in the U.S. and Japan that led to both anthology booms.
著者
飛ヶ谷 美穂子
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.55, pp.7-21, 2013

<p> Penned at the end of 1904 and published in January 1905, 'The Carlyle Museum' (<i>CM</i>) is one of Soseki's earliest pieces in remembrance of his days in London. The work is said to be rather prosaic and personal, and less fascinating than 'The Tower of London', another London story with mysterious, dramatic visions. A great admirer of Carlyle, Soseki made his first visit to Carlyle's House on 3 August 1901, which served immediate material for <i>CM.</i> Also, preceding studies have revealed that a large part of detailed desciption is based on <i>Carlyle's House Catalogue,</i> a guidebook he brought home from London.</p><p> This paper aims to introduce hitherto unnoticed sources of <i>CM,</i> concerning the very beginning of the work. In the first passage the narrator tells an interesting episode called "the story of Carlyle and the speechmaker". The story has no relation either to Soseki's visit or to the guidebook, and has been considered to be a figment of his imagination. However, the present writer herein indicates a source book: namely, <i>Literary</i> <i>Geography(LG),</i> collected essays published by William Sharp in October 1904. In a chapter entitled 'The Country of Carlyle', the author recounts "an amusing story" which bears a striking similarity to that in <i>CM.</i> As to description of Carlyle's appearance, Soseki seems to have taken hints, not from <i>LG,</i> but from Carlyle's portrait by E. J. Sullivan in the illustrated edition of <i>Sartor Resartus.</i></p><p> Sharp had much in common with Soseki. He was closely connected with D. G. Rossetti, George Meredith, Watts-Dunton, and many other literary figures and artists related to the Pre-Raphaelites. Like Carlyle, he was a Scotsman, and had a traumatic, distressful time in London. As Flavia Alaya rightly put it, "they were all 'foreigners'" by nature.</p>
著者
林 叢
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.37, pp.77-90, 1995-03-31 (Released:2017-06-17)

Prior to or following the writing of Yaso (『野草』Wild Grass), Lu Xun took an interest in Hakuson Kuriyagawa and translated his Kumon no Shocho (『苦悶の象徴』 Symbol of Anguish) and Zoge no Towo Dete (『象牙の塔を出て』 Leaving the Ivory Tower). Through these translations Lu Xun came to agree with Hakuson's view of literature and absorbed it on his own terms. This point is clear in the criticisms, essays, and prefaces which he wrote at this time. We can see the influence of Hakuson’s literature and theory of dreams on the style and technique used in Yaso. Furthermore, Hakuson’s criticism of Soseki must have attracted the attention of Lu Xun who also had an interest in Soseki. When we think about the connection between Yaso and Soseki’s Yume Juya (『夢十夜』 Ten Nights’ Dreams), it can be seen that Hakuson’s criticism of Soseki was an inspiring intermediary for the author. In this paper I will illustrate two points: Lu Xun’s view of Hakuson and his interest in Soseki via Hakuson. For this purpose, I will employ an analysis of the translations of Kumon no Shocho and Zoge no To wo Dete, the prefaces and afterwords of these translations, papers written at this time, Yaso, and so forth.
著者
相良 英明
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.20, pp.40-50, 1977-12-25 (Released:2017-06-17)

Sōseki Natsumé (1867-1916) was a great novelist in the 20th century Japan, practically contemporaneous with Joseph Conrad (1857-1924). His views on Conrad’s early stories and sea novels are found in his essays, notebooks and marginal notes, and two of his novels show some evidences of the influences of Conrad. According to Soseki’s notebook, he read “Typhoon” presumably in spring or summer in 1906, and made a comment in it; “Literature of man’s will— cf. Typhoon”. And he wrote The 210th Day (i.e. the stormy day of typhoon), a story of will, in September of the same year. Its plot resembles that of “Typhoon”, the heroes facing a storm bravely, though not at sea but on the mountain. Also Soseki’s descriptions of the storm and scenes remind us strongly of Conrad’s. Soseki’s The Miner written in 1908 also resembles, in the theme and construction, Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”. Between them, there are remarkable parallels in the pilgrimage of the narrator into the heart of darkness. Yet, what is really more significant may be that Soseki and Conrad had much in common in their personality, problem of ego, dualistic view of the world, and way how to live. Though in the later years, their ways as writers were different.
著者
Werner Schaumann
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.26, pp.5-18, 1984-03-31 (Released:2017-06-17)

Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts wurde in Kyoto aus den urspruenglich europaeischen Spielkarten das Blumenkarten Spiel entwickelt. An die Stelle der vier Farben zu je zwoelf Karten traten die zwoelf Monate mit je vier Karten, wobei jeder Monat durch eine Pflanze (Blume) gekennzeichnet wird. Die erste Karte eines jeden Monats wird durch eine Kombination von Pflanze und Tier hervorgehoben, die der Lyrik oder der dekorativen Kunst entnommen ist (Kiefer und Kranich, Herbstlaub und Reh etc.), weitere Karten sind durch einen Papierstreifen zum Gedichteschreiben der angemessenen Reaktion auf Natureindruecke ausgezeichnet. Wie die Auswahl der Motive zeigt auch die Bewertung der einzelnen Karten die traditionellen Vorlieben fue bestimmte Aspekte der Natur (Fruehling, Herbst, Mond, Kirschblueten) , und die Bonuskombinationen (Saketrinken bei der Mondschau etc.) passen sich ebenfalls diesem Schema an, so dass ein Bild der japanischen “schoenen Natur” (Kachȯfûgetsu) entsteht. Eine genauere Betrachtung dieses Bildes zeigt eine sehr freie Behandlung der Natur, die bis zur Willkuer geht (Paulowniablueten im Winter wegen eines Wortspieles), doch ist die Illusionierung durch das Spiel so stark, dass es heute meist fuer die Wirklichkeit genommen wird. Wenn aber die Illusion beim Spielen nicht zugleich auch durchschaut wird, verliert sie ihren Charakter als Freiraum, der dem Spiel erst seinen Sinn gibt.
著者
西田 桐子
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.57, pp.66-79, 2014-03-31 (Released:2018-05-26)

Japanese writers’ interest in black people and black culture heightened in the early 1960s due to: the Civil Rights Movement, the Emergency Meeting of the Permanent Bureau of Afro-Asian Writers held in Tokyo, and the prevalence of modern jazz. Kijima Hajime (1928-2004) was one of the leading translators of “Black literature” (kokujin-bungaku), also known as “Negro literature” at the time, currently called “African American literature”. Kijima was a poet and extensively translated African American literature. He translated Du Bois’ (1868-1963) autobiography as early as 1951. Only from the late 1950s did most writers begin to pay close attention to “Black literature”. Its popularity gained momentum in Japan in 1961 when The Collective Works of Black Literature (kokujin-bungaku-zenshū) was published by Hayakawa Publishers. Even from the planning stages, Kijima played a central role in editing the anthology. Why was Kijima so heavily involved in promoting “Black literature”? One key reason is that, as a poet, his primary focus was on oppressed working people. “Black literature” shaped his writing style, as well as other literary movements that debated the future of Japanese people after the Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War Ⅱ. His poetry was affected by ordinary people and folk rhetoric as well as the rhythm of their music, including jazz. His empathy for working people breathed life into his translation of “Black literature.” His literary philosophy deeply impacted and, in turn, was also shaped by his translation work.