著者
村井 まや子
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.29, pp.105-114, 1999-03-31 (Released:2017-06-20)

My reading of Angela Carter's The Passion of New Eve concerns the way the novel engages itself with the current feminist discourse. In my view, Carter in The Passion of New Eve not only criticises the patriarchal definition of women by parodically rewriting the traditional images of women in Judaeo-Christian culture such as Eve, Lilith, and Virgin Mary, but also questions the kind of feminist thought that invokes the ancient figure of the mother goddess as an empowering image for women. For Carter, to return to matriarchy only ends up in the inverted form of sexism, and to do so means to be caught up again in the system of binary oppositions. In this novel about a man who involuntarily undergoes a physical and psychological transformation into a woman, Carter suggests that the possibility of freedom for both women and men should lie only in the constant interchange between the two, i.e., man and woman, father and mother, consciousness and unconsciousness, self and the other, and so on.
著者
小林 弘
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.37, pp.43-59, 2007-03-31

In his The Elements of Law, De Cive, and Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes says that the English common lawyers in the seventeenth century confused lex with jus, law with right. He emphasizes that "Right, consisteth in liberty to do, or to forbear; whereas Law, determinth, and bindeth to one of them." (Leviathan,117) In brief, he regards right as liberty, or the absence of obligation and law as restraint, or the imposition of obligation. And he insists on a sharp distinction between right and law, and that right is priority of law. Hobbes's distinction between right and law is criticized by many commentators. For example, Richard Peters criticizes the word right Hobbes says for "a strange use." On the other hand, Leo Strauss admits the comment that Hobbes subordinates law to right. And Richard Tuck follows Strauss. Which comments are true? This is one of my subjects, though it is very difficult to solve. I dealt with this subject by Hobbes's method and his linguistic theory in De Corpore. And I reached the conclusion that the comment of Strauss is more proper than that of R. Peters.
著者
山口 裕美
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.43, pp.47-63, 2013-03-31

This paper aims to show that Byron tries to give a new interpretation of Cain in Genesis. The protagonist in Cain is possessed by despairs, which Kierkegaard would call "the sickness unto death." His Faustian impulse, which is the desire to get the ultimate knowledge, would result from the anxiety where he cannot identify who he is in the world. Yet, by having knowledge beyond the human realm, he would break a Christian taboo: he would commit the sin of pride, which is one of the seven deadly sins. It is natural that the protagonist such as Cain should be cast into Hell as Satan in Paradise Lost in the traditional Christian view. However, if the Christian conception of good and evil should overturn as in the Nietzschean thought, the protagonist's anxiety would become existentialistic. In analyzing Byron's Cain in comparison with the philosophy of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, this paper tries to see Byron not as one of the later Romantics but rather as a pre-existentialistic poet.
著者
竹村 直之
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.26, pp.41-51, 1996-03-30

In this paper, I will analyze how both William Blake and Edgar Allan Poe are different from Emanuel Swedenborg concerning human imagination, and then I will show why Blake and Poe departed from Swedenborg. Both Blake and Poe were deeply influenced by Swedenborg, but later parted from him and began to criticize him. They criticize him as follows: Swedenborg was too much rational; he overstepped the boundary of reason: he came to invade and restrict the world of imagination. I believe that one of the reasons Blake and Poe criticized Swedenborg is that both had their peculiar views of the human imagination which is quite different from Swedenborg's. For example, in "Laocoon, " Blake said: The Eternal Body of Man is The Imagination, that is God himself, The Divine Body Jesus: We are his Members In "The Domain of Arnheim, " Poe also used such phrases as 'being superior yet alike to humanty' or 'immortality of Man, his perennial existence' in "Poetic Principle." Both Blake and Poe thought that human imagination can achieve thought of a godlike person or humanlike god. These are the only few of the many examples of how Blake and Poe see human imagination.
著者
木内 泉
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.27, pp.81-104, 1997-03-31

Throughout the nineteenth century philanthropy was not only a respectable alternatives to idleness but also the very popular vocation which was the leisured woman's outlet for self-expression and a purpose in life. And furthermore it enabled them to contact with the people of other classes and widen their sphere and enlarge their horizon. It gave women, from upper and middle-class women to working women, common experience, compassion, and first-hand knowledge of widespread poverty, inadequate housing condition brought about by industrialization and urbanization. As charity organizations and government institutions provided more and more services, skilled professionals were needed to train many volunteers. The experience women gained in workhouses, hospitals, and settlements enabled them to play a role in public affairs later. Most of the women who were devoted to the charity work served as poor law gurdians and on school boards, as well as in lesser government offices. Through their contact with charitable organization women increased their interest in the problems of poverty and the social services. When agitation of women's movement was revived in the early 20th century such public services proved that women were worthy of vote. The interest of women suffrage was caused by a certain of their activities, because they realized that compassion and religion alone were inadequate instruments to change the social conditions which bred the problems and there were limits to a charitable action without political power. The early women's suffrage societies were regarded by them as another branch of philanthropy. The connections which linked various committee women in the 19th century enabled the female suffrage societies to be established rapidly all over Britain.
著者
高梨 絵梨沙
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.43, pp.33-45, 2013-03-31

In 1798, William Wordsworth wrote "The Old Cumberland Beggar (OCB)" included in The Lyrical Ballads, and in 1802, he composed "Resolution and Independence (RI)". There poems show some similarities. The first similarity pertains to the figure of the main character. In these poems, Wordsworth depicts an old man who belongs to a lower class. In spite of their class, these men have an honorable spirit and merge with the nature of the Lake District. The second similarity of these poems is the context of the narrator. The character of both narrators is not detailed by Wordsworth, but they are projected by the poet himself. In addition, the narrators differ in their sympathy for the old. The narrator of OCB tries to protect the beggar's freedom from the Poor Laws, although he never speaks to him nor does he interact with him directly. On the other hand, the narrator of RI tries to speak to the leech gatherer, being inspired by him. When readers compare the narrators of the two poems, they can understand the change in Wordsworth's attitude to the old men as the characters of his poems. In OCB, he is only an observer, but in RI, he learns to participate in the poems and speak with the character created using the power of his imagination.
著者
松下 晴彦
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.28, pp.129-142, 1998-03-31

After "the 45" (the failure of the Jacobite rebellion at Culloden), the Highlands came to face a enormous transformations. In a political aspect the British Government had done her best to make the Highlands not isolated from other parts of Britain. And in social and economical aspects the industrialization and capitalism / commercialism were marching into the Highlands. Various kinds of improvements or changes could have been seen in the Highlands since the second half of the eighteenth century. Now, I am picking up the Highland Clearances as one of the major causes that dissolved the clan society and altered the traditional way of life. When it comes to the Highland Clearances, it has been often said that the Sutherland Clearances were the most notorious, though it was never the typical Clearance. This paper surveys the Sutherland Clearances with social interests.
著者
門野 泉
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.40, pp.111-127, 2010-03-31

Thomas Middleton's A Game at Chess provoked a scandal when it was first performed at the Globe Theatre in 1624. Due to the severe sarcasm it directed against Count Gondomar, former Spanish ambassador, and Catholic Spain, the play was banned by the Privy Council after 9 consecutive performances because it was considered that the King's Men had flouted the commandment that no contemporary Christian monarchs should be represented on stage. It seems certain that there were much more serious reasons why this play would have offended James I, who ordered an investigation into the offensive performances with the intent of making a severe example of the offenders. After strict interrogations, the Master of Revels and individual actors were found not guilty. After being given a stern warning, the King's Men were ordered to pay a light fine, and only Middleton was jailed in the Fleet prison. The decisions of the Privy Council appeared to be politically motivated and unfair. However, careful reading of the comedy reveals that the playwright portrayed James I as having innocent foolishness, lack of confidence, lacking both leadership and insight into human nature, and many other weaknesses as a king, in comparison with the Machiavellian Count Gondmar's superb political ability, sharp insight and brilliant tactics. There can be no doubt that the members of the Privy Council realized that Middleton's satire was focused not only on Spain but also on the King of England and his court. This would seem to explain why he received the heaviest sentence. Although this was an unfortunate outcome for him, when viewed from another angle, the punishment was a positive evaluation of his sharp satirical comedy, and therefore can be considered a "just reward" for his brilliant talent and sharp insight into human nature.
著者
福西 由実子
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.35, pp.75-95, 2005-03-31

Mass-Observation (M-O) was probably the largest investigation into popular culture to be carried out in Britain in the 20^<th> Century. It was established in 1937 by a small group of upper-middle-class intellectuals. The founder, Tom Harrisson, an anthropologist, was aware of the serious gap between what ordinary people, 'the mass', actually thought and what the press, the media and politicians said they thought : 'How little we know of our next door neighbour and his habits; how little we know of ourselves. Of conditions of life and thought in another class, our ignorance is complete. The anthropology of ourselves is still only a dream'. M-O had three main methods : firstly, inviting ordinary people to report on their everyday lives in diary form; secondly, recruiting observers whose role was to watch, listen and document all aspects of ordinary behaviour; and thirdly, involving poets, writers and artists to comment subjectively, in complement to the documentary bias of the observers. These latter believed that it was possible to study society in an entirely objective manner and that the widespread collection of data would 'contribute to an increase in the general social consciousness'. This paper will examine M-O's first and most ambitious study on holiday culture in the seaside resort of Blackpool. This was called the Worktown Project, which, in addition to documenting Blackpool, looked at everyday life in nearby Bolton in 1937-9. (Both towns were chosen as representative of the industrial North.) There is evidence that M-O's image of working-class people and their holiday escapism in Lancashire during the Depression reveals a unique, deeply textured image of being on holiday and something of what it meant. This would suggest much about the evolution of the commercial mass leisure industry and the significance of leisure to the labouring classes.
著者
大野 直美
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.27, pp.57-67, 1997-03-31

The aim of this paper is to analyze Rosie's character in Cakes and Ale. Rosie is conspicuous for her brightness and mysterious beauty in spite of her bad behavior. Her bad behavior is based on her instinct. She is always honest with herself and behaves as she pleases. In Cakes and Ale, "I"or narrator Ashenden, recalls her. "I" has memories of Rosie from when he was young and about fifty years later she reappears before him lively. "I" admires Rosie though she betrayed him in past days. Rosie must be the source of the warmth of Cakes and Ale because Maugham evidently loves his heroine and this love suffuses the whole book. In this paper I will try to examine Rosie in two separate appearances in the recollections of "I" and analyze why she attracts "I" and the readers' mind.
著者
Yokoyama Yoshio
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.21, pp.27-35, 1991-06-01

マーガレット・ミッチェルの『風と共に去りぬ』とウィリアム・フォークナーの『アブサロム,アブサロム!』は,ともに歴史小説で,1936年に深南部で書かれた。両小説に共通するものとしてdynastyの興亡があげられる。『風と共に去りぬ』のジェラルド・オハラと『アブサロム,アブサロム!』のトマス・サトペンは,ともに貧乏白人で,自分のdynastyを建設するとき,動機は異なるが共通の野望を持ち,土地,奴隷,育ちのよい妻を持つことを望み,強い意志,実行力,勇気,抜け目なさ,独立心を持って行動する。ジェラルドのdynastyは,南北戦争によって崩壊するが,サトペンのdynastyは,南北戦争に加えて人種問題(黒白雑婚)によって崩壊する。サトペンの場合,息子のヘンリーが混血のチャールズ・ボンが妹と結婚するのを防ぐために彼を殺し,サトペン農園をさる。後継者がいなくなったことでdynastyは完全に崩壊する。一方,ジェラルドの場合は,dynastyは崩壊するが,娘スカーレットがアトランタで製材業を営み,タラ農園の経済を支え,後継者としてdynastyを再建する可能性を残す。このことは『風と共に去りぬ』では,「戦争中と戦争後をいかに生き抜くか」をテーマとしているのに対して,『アブサロム,アブサロム!』では,人種問題をテーマとしていることによるのである。
著者
君塚 淳一
出版者
英米文化学会
雑誌
英米文化 (ISSN:09173536)
巻号頁・発行日
no.22, pp.39-49, 1992-03-31

Throughout their history before their immigration to America, Jewish people in the old world has always faced crises such as pogroms, holocausts or poverty. But it is also true that those crises made them aware of the intense consciousness of their Jewish identity. Their lives in America are well off and safe, however, which has ironically brought them a second crisis, that is their loss of identity. Therefore, it is needless to say that this loss of identity has been one of the themes of Jewish American writers. But being different from the writers who have remineded their readers of the old world and forced them to face the old crises, Paul Auster invents new circumstances in New York to warn his readers of this new identity crisis. This thesis compares earlier Jewish writers to Auster in order to illustrait his way of awakening the identity of American Jews.