inbooks by Luca Milasi
In: Ikuko Sagiyama Valentina Pedone (editors). Transcending Borders Selected papers in East Asian studies edited by Ikuko Sagiyama, Valentina Pedone. vol. studi e saggi 161, p. 115-132, FIRENZE:Firenze University Press, 2016
[For Japanese abstract, see below]
This paper attempts to present the literary personality of th... more [For Japanese abstract, see below]
This paper attempts to present the literary personality of the novelist and exegete Kōda Rohan (pseudonym of Kōda Shigeyuki, 1867–1947) in the cultural context of modernity. Behind the façade of old-style literatus, Kōda Rohan strives to seize the opportunity to reform the concept of fiction in his own way. His goal is that of proposing an alternative model of fiction that is distinctively unique in comparison to a sheer imitation of Western culture, particularly in its romantic stances. The main device he employs to pursue his goal at an early stage is a coherent and thoughtful reliance to the view of the doctrinal foundations of East-Asian philosophies as a literary theme. Rohan’s case is exemplary in that his wide reliance on (and almost constant allusions to) pivotal Buddhist concepts as literary technique offer an allegory for the new significance that its author attributes to the creative process behind writing fiction at a time of reform and change. Moreover, in his early work, Rohan’s preoccupation over presenting a view of Romanticism more coherent with his own’s cultural asset was also at stake. By means of a thorough rethinking of the broader significance of key philosophical concepts in Rohan’s early fiction, I shall present concrete examples to back up the view that the heavy reliance on Buddhist doctrine informing Rohan’s first attempts at literary creation conceals an eminently modern interpretation of the main stances of Japanese pre-modern culture, which testifies to the author’s relevance as a modern thinker.
[要旨]
本稿では、幸田露伴の作品と仏教との関わりを考察する。特に、『法華 経』、『般若心経』など、東アジアの大乗仏教の主な経典から、小説家 露伴はどのようなモチーフを取り入れ、それらの経典からインスピレー ションを受けて彼の初期小説にどのような女性像が描かれたのかを検討 する。更に、露伴の他の著作、エッセイなども考慮に入れつつ、『風流 佛』という小説の譬喩的解釈を示す。『風流佛』の主人公珠運の美の 探究と、その探求を妨げるかのような珠運の初恋というプロットの展 開が、著者の思想の変遷においてどのような意義を持つかを検討し、 坪内逍遥などが小説の革新を唱えていた過渡的な時期の文壇に露伴は どのような貢献を与えようとしていたかを明らかにする試みである。
3.11 Disaster and trauma in experience, understanding, and imagination, edited by C. Craig, E. Fongaro, A. Niehaus, 2019
In an essay published on the 11th of August 1967, the well-known writer Yukio Mishima 三島由紀夫 surpr... more In an essay published on the 11th of August 1967, the well-known writer Yukio Mishima 三島由紀夫 surprisingly yielded a confession about why he had never mentioned the trauma that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had exerted on his psyche – and if we are to take his statement literally, his literature as well. The essay is titled “Hiroshima inside me” (Watashi no naka no hiroshima. In it, Mishima describes the extent of the moral and psychic trauma that this event extolled on him as a youngster. The dead body of the juvenile trauma inflicted by this event is perhaps exhumed here by a mature Mishima as a harbinger of what would be his intellectual legacy in terms of poetics. It is undeniable that in his novels Mishima fostered, or at least indirectly provided, a model for the reversion of the kokutai (国体, national body) wartime rhetoric into the private obsession with the individual body that characterised much of postwar literature’s involvement with the salacious and carnal (nikutai no bungaku 肉体の文学). The transfiguration of the traumas related to war and nuclear bombing can be related to a collective memory that postwar writers had already touched upon. In particular, Ango Sakaguchi 坂口安吾(1906-1955), a writer that Mishima claims to be amongst the literary giants that he reveres in a 1956 foreword to a collection of his work, mentions the subject repeatedly in several essays dating from 1946-1948. Being another major literary figure who openly and earnestly delivered his rather unconventional views concerning the discovery of nuclear power technology, Ango offers a comparison with Mishima’s professed poetics on the very same topic. Ango’s literature has become the object of ever-increasing attention, yet due to its eclectic nature, the true significance of his literary output is not easy to determine. In 2016, an attempt to highlight his value as a non-systematic thinker was carried out by Shū Fujisawa, a prominent critic, in his selection of highlights from Ango’s fiction and essays, Ango no kotoba (The words of Ango Sakaguchi), published by Shūeisha shinsho. In presenting Sensōron (A Theory of War, October 1948), one of several essays dealing with the Second World War, and the atomic bombing in particular, Fujisawa proposes to have Ango’s essay read by the government and TEPCO. In fact, Ango in this essay tackles the whole set of problems solicited by the discovery of nuclear power, marking what the true essence of war really is, to him, by clearly stating that political, social, but most of all, economic concerns are always the hidden agenda behind any war declaration. It also needs to be emphasized that within the first two decades after the discovery of nuclear-powered bombing technology, Ango and Mishima both insisted that the discovery of the nuclear power - a discovery that could potentially wipe away the humankind - goes beyond any power of the human imagination itself. Conceptually, the discovery of nuclear power is the supernova that not even the worst of humans could have conceived of beforehand, and the new, unlimited boundary of human imagination, which is the pulsating heart of literature. These two writers, Mishima and Ango, happen to take two polarized stances toward this discovery. It is remarkable that Ango would overtly predict and measure the very extent of the trauma that Mishima, a writer of another generation, and amongst the best-known outside Japan, would desperately try to convey indirectly in his literature up to his death in 1970. The fundamental questions that these two writers raise in their complementary approaches to the problem of war after the discovery of nuclear power have not, in fact, been thoroughly investigated nor properly addressed up to this point. Whether it be the need to gain insight on the trauma that nuclear power still perpetrates upon us, or to examine the economic reasons that are behind our ruthless misuse of it, these two writers still embody the two faces of the task we need to address as postwar generations dealing with such a newly found dimension of horror.
How to learn?: Nippon/Japan as object, Nippon/Japan as method, edited by Craig, C.; Fongaro, E.; Ozaki, A. , 2017
The chapter is the third in a series of joint studies on colors in Japanese literature, focussing... more The chapter is the third in a series of joint studies on colors in Japanese literature, focussing on the role that the fictionalization of his experience in London as a scholar played on Natsume Soseki (1867-1916) ' s overall allegoric view of the supernatural in his London diary, and the many fictional pieces based on his experience abroad. The methodology is essentially philological, analyzing terms, verbs, adverbs used in the description of scenes where the mingling between reality and the imaginary is the main narrative device. The paper also comprises a comparison with early Chinese material authored by Soseki, previously unedited in the English language.
Il teatro giapponese La macchina scenica tra spazi urbani e riforme, 2014
[For an abstract in English see below]
L'avvento nel 19 ° secolo di nuove forme teatrali giappon... more [For an abstract in English see below]
L'avvento nel 19 ° secolo di nuove forme teatrali giapponesi, come ad esempio shinpa e shingeki, sancisce, accanto al successo dei popolari generi tradizionali teatrali quali kabuki, un'occasione per gli intellettuali Meiji ripensare il genere teatrale, ridefinendo i suoi confini, sia in termini di ciò che era l'oggetto della rappresentazione, sia riguardo al ruolo centrale del testo drammatico, già un elemento chiave nella teoria implicita che sosteneva lo sviluppo del genere teatrale. Un fenomeno saliente del teatro giapponese alla fine del XIX secolo è pertanto individuabile a partire dal repertorio delle compagnie giapponesi, per la prima volta impegnate nel compito di portare in scena in contemporanea autori teatrali diversi come Shakespeare, Ibsen, Gorky, Cechov, Goethe: mentre la prima introduzione del teatro occidentale in Giappone aveva avuto luogo in forma scritta fino al 1880, e aveva implicitamente sancito l'idea, nuova per i critici del tempo, che il dramma fosse un genere letterario in sé, tanto quanto la poesia o narrativa, gli adattamenti scritti o messi in scena fino a quel momento erano spesso stati associati ai generi più tradizionali, che riflettevano vecchie concezioni; ma i nuovi movimenti teatrali, pur ispirandosi al kabuki ed al joruri, avrebbero garantito al dramma d'importazione occidentale di registrare, a volte, successi ancora maggiori rispetto ai nuovi drammi, relativamente poco considerati, di scrittori giapponesi che pure si sono prodotti in seno al teatro contemporaneo. Per quanto riguarda quest'ultimi, è necessario osservare come un altro fenomeno di rilievo del teatro giapponese fra Otto e Novecento sia proprio il dilettantismo teatrale dei maggiori narratori giapponesi moderni: tra il XIX ed il XX secolo, molti scrittori e intellettuali che erano anche traduttori lingue europee, ma non poteva certo essere considerati drammaturghi di professione nel senso tradizionale del termine, come Tsubouchi Shōyō (1859-1935), Mori Ogai (1862-1922), Koda Rohan (1867-1947), Ozaki Koyo (1868-1903), tentarono un rinnovamento del dramma giapponese proponendo una serie di drammi originali nel complesso di modesta portata, ma importanti anche perché accompagnati da riflessioni effettuate dai loro autori in sede critica che, al pari di quanto accadeva per gli adattamenti occidentali e le traduzioni di opere teatrali da loro stessi effettuate, e i relativi saggi critici, offrivano una sorta di teoria implicita, prima base teorica di un profondo rinnovamento che nel tempo avrebbe coinvolto il concetto stesso del dramma e del teatro giapponese.
Around and about dramatic texts : the first stage adaptations, from Shakespeare onwards, as an implicit model for a new drama in late 19th-century Japan.
The advent in 19th-century Japan of new theatrical forms, such as shinpa and shingeki, marked, alongside the success of popular traditional theatrical genres such as kabuki, an occasion for Meiji intellectuals to rethink the theatrical genre, redefining its borders, in terms of both what was worth representing, and the pivotal role of the dramatic text, which was already an implicitly key element in the theory sustaining the development in the genre. A striking phenomenon of the theatre in the late nineteenth century is the choice made by Japanese troupes of putting on stage authors as diverse as Shakespeare, Ibsen, Gorky, Chekhov, Goethe: while the first introduction of Western theatre in Japan had taken place in writing up to the 1880s, and had implicitly sanctioned the idea, new to the critics of the time , that the drama was a literary genre in itself, as much as poetry or fiction, the adaptations written or put on stage up to that point had frequently been associated with more traditional genres, reflecting old conceptions; but the new movements, while drawing inspiration from kabuki and jōruri theatres, mostly allowed Western drama to be, at times, even more popular than the relatively little considered new dramas of Japanese authors which also informed the contemporary theater. Regarding the latter, it should also be noted that between the nineteenth and the twentieth century, many writers and intellectuals who were also translators from European languages, but could hardly be labelled mainstream playwrights in themselves, such as Tsubouchi Shōyō (1859-1935), Mori Ōgai (1862-1922 ), Kōda Rohan (1867-1947), Ozaki Kōyō (1868-1903), attempted a renewal of Japanese drama proposing a series of original pieces of overall modest scope, yet crucial for the fact that these plays were accompanied by essays that, like Western adaptations and translations of plays by the same authors, and the related critical essays, offered a kind of implicit theory, a first basis of the profound renewal of the very concept of Japanese drama and theatre.
L’Identità Nazionale nel XXI Secolo in Cina, Giappone, Corea, Tibet e Taiwan, a cura di Marina Miranda, 2012
Con la sconfitta nel conflitto mondiale del 1941-1944 e la resa incondizionata agli alleati, il G... more Con la sconfitta nel conflitto mondiale del 1941-1944 e la resa incondizionata agli alleati, il Giappone inaugurò il proprio ingresso nel Secondo dopoguerra. Gli intellettuali giapponesi si trovarono di fronte al difficile compito di dare voce allo sbalordimento e all’incertezza seguita agli orrori della guerra, in un momento in cui la società tutta sembrava caratterizzata da sentimenti contrastanti, e raccolsero la sfida in un clima che conobbe così una rapida ripresa letteraria, con la pubblicazione di molte nuove riviste – a dispetto della penuria di beni materiali e del costo della carta. Tornavano sulla scena i maggiori scrittori dell’anteguerra, i cosiddetti rōtaika (‘grandi nomi’), come Tanizaki, che si erano tenuti sostanzialmente al di fuori delle correnti e raggruppamenti letterari più compatti e definiti, e avevano continuato, durante il conflitto, a proporre la loro personale poetica, tralasciando, spesso volutamente, i riferimenti alla contemporaneità in un tentativo di affrancarsi dalla desolazione della guerra. Alla reticenza dei maggiori contemporanei nel commentare apertamente il conflitto si aggiungeva la desolante condizione degli autori che, avendo invece preso posizioni esplicitamente contrarie alla propaganda, in periodo di guerra erano stati costretti al silenzio con il divieto di pubblicare le proprie opere. Questa costrizione aveva favorito l’emergere della cosiddetta tenkō bungaku, ‘letteratura della conversione’, forma di romanzo-confessione imposta agli scrittori più lontani dal regime: si trattava di una serie di opere narrative comparse subito dopo lo scioglimento forzato della lega degli scrittori proletari. Il dopoguerra segnò il ritorno alla ribalta anche di questi scrittori proletari, liberi adesso di accantonare una modalità narrativa loro imposta dal regime per dedicarsi a rifondare una nuova letteratura politica: un genere in qualche modo minore rispetto alla letteratura alta o ‘pura’ (jun bungaku) dei rōtaika, ma che veicolasse in qualche modo l’avvenuta ripresa del dibattito sulla democrazia e del pluralismo di idee. Queste sintetiche considerazioni tuttavia non esauriscono il complesso panorama letterario dell’epoca: un altro gruppo di scrittori, non necessariamente da considerare collegati fra loro, se non per la loro comune riflessione sull'ampia tematica letteraria della decadenza, fra cui Sakaguchi Ango (1906-1955) e, nella generazione successiva, il celeberrimo Mishima Yukio (1925-1970) recuperava, ognuno secondo la propria personalissima poetica, proprio la ‘zona d’ombra’ creata dalla reticenza dei contemporanei, per dare vita a una ‘letteratura della decadenza’ dove era più sentita anche l’esigenza di commentare a chiare lettere gli avvenimenti intercorsi tra il dilagare del nazionalismo degli anni Trenta e la resa del 1945. In questa scelta, i ‘decadenti’ del Secondo dopoguerra superano la semplice urgenza autobiografica, universalizzando il male di vivere da essi raccontato grazie al contatto con il pubblico giapponese: pur se inclini a cercare nella letteratura un’occasione di evasione dal quotidiano, i giapponesi conservavano, in realtà, una memoria viva e sgomenta che consentiva una facile identificazione con le angosce esistenziali veicolate nelle opere dei decadenti giapponesi. Nella loro letteratura è pertanto concretamente ravvisabile il tentativo di criticare e destrutturare l’identità nazionale malata che aveva portato la società tutta a vivere la terribile esperienza della Seconda guerra mondiale. Inoltre, l’occupazione alleata, che dopo la sconfitta giapponese era subentrata al regime nel controllo della stampa, aveva istituito una forma di controllo diversa dalla censura precedente: non era più vietato criticare il sistema imperiale e la politica imperialista del Giappone dell’anteguerra. Questo consentì a un drappello di scrittori buraiha (‘iconoclasti’) di rievocare, con una rappresentazione letteraria esplicita, lo stato d’animo dei più di fronte agli orrori della guerra. Alla ricostituzione della letteratura di sinistra era stato implicitatamente assegnato il compito di assecondare il bisogno di esprimere un sentimento generale di aspirazione verso un’utopistica rivoluzione sociale. Tuttavia, poiché in realtà non sembrò realizzarsi in concreto né il ritorno alla passata epoca di prosperità, né questa utopistica idea di rivoluzione, mentre la grama vita sotto l’occupazione alleata restava immutata, la gente iniziò a perdere le speranze nel potere di una simile letteratur. È in questo contesto che fanno la loro comparsa un piccolo gruppo di altri scrittori già attivi nell’anteguerra, i cosiddetti buraiha o shingesakusha: autori che esercitarono una notevole influenza sull’animo di moltissime persone che si dibattevano nelle ristrettezze e incertezze della subitanea sconfitta. Indubbiamente il successo di questi autori è dovuto al fatto che non censurarono, nella loro letteratura, l’esperienza della guerra e della resa, eleggendola piuttosto a motivo principe della rappresentazione letteraria, e rileggendo in chiave esistenzialista la condizione dell’immediato dopoguerra, da loro sperimentata in prima persona. Coerentemente con quest’analisi, i tratti marcatamente ‘decadenti’ della letteratura giapponese del dopoguerra sono da considerarsi pertanto un prodotto di uno specifico contesto socio-culturale. Tra le due guerre, nel periodo Taishō (1912-1926) soprattutto, indubbiamente c’erano stati alcuni movimenti in qualche misura ispirati al Decadentismo europeo, ma meno sentiti, chiusi in un vuoto formalismo. La letteratura della decadenza nel Giappone degli anni dal 1945 in poi, di contro, veicola alcuni importanti interrogativi sociali che danno agli scrittori giapponesi la possibilità di entrare nel merito dell’identità ferita del loro popolo e ripensare il passato. Si può affermare pertanto che la produzione letteraria della decadenza nel Giappone del Secondo dopoguerra sia una corrente trasversale, che rappresenta, nell’ambito della produzione di alcuni tra i maggiori scrittori del periodo, anche un chiaro tentativo di rispondere a un’esigenza che esula dal piano strettamente letterario, tentando di offrire un appiglio per affrancarsi intellettualmente dalla pesante eredità della guerra.
Nuove prospettive di ricerca sul Giappone, edited by G. Amitrano and S. De Maio, 2012
Between Fiction and Reality: the Revaluation of Tokugawa Fiction in the Literary Essays of Meiji ... more Between Fiction and Reality: the Revaluation of Tokugawa Fiction in the Literary Essays of Meiji Writers
[Japanese abstract below]
This paper investigates the fiction of Tokugawa writer Kyokutei Bakin (Style name of Takizawa Okikuni, 1767-1848) from the standpoint of the Meiji literary establishment. Bakin was a prolific writer whose works, despite their popular success, rapidly fell into the umbrella category of gesaku (lit. “divertissement”). In fact they were considered minor fiction by intellectuals until Bakin’s reputation began to be reaffirmed by important authors of the Meiji period.
The debate about the contents, style and overall value of the gesaku tradition paralleled the contrast between reality and fiction in the original works of Meiji novelists who were active and became prominent in the field of literary criticism at the turn of the century. Tsubouchi Shoyo’s considerations on Bakin’s fiction in his seminal essay Shosetsu shinzui (The Essence of the Novel, 1885-7) launched a critical debate about the value of Japanese and Chinese antiquity which led intellectuals of the time to reconsider the peculiarities of Tokugawa fiction. This is increasingly evident in the efforts made by the 'classicist' and exegete Koda Rohan (1867-1947), and the translator and novelist Mori Ogai (1862-1922), to put forward proposals for a new model for historical fiction based primarily on accurate historical documentation. It is interesting to focus on the shifting perspective of Meiji writers concerning the works of Bakin as they redefine the boundaries between Japan’s treasured literary legacy and the new trends emerging in the bundan around the end of the 19th century.
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"事実と小説の間－明治期の文芸評論にみられる江戸戯作の再検討"
本稿では、逍遥・鴎外・露伴の文芸論や随筆をもとにして、この作家たちの江戸戯作に対する見方の展開を考察する。特に、彼らの文芸評論から重要な箇所を幾つかとりあげ、明治時代における曲亭（滝沢）馬琴の戯作への評価がどのように変わっていったかを示す。明治の新小説の理論家である逍遥の『小説神髄』における馬琴についての発言、これを受けて書かれた鴎外初期の評論『今の諸家の小説論を読みて』の中の日本古典の再検討がうかがわれる箇所、そして、歴史随筆とも言える『運命』（大正8年）にみられる幸田露伴の馬琴評を考える試みである。
I dieci colori dell'eleganza - Saggi in onore di Maria Teresa Orsi, edited by M. Mastrangelo and A. Maurizi, 2013
[For an abstract in English, please see below]
Dopo una breve disamina che individua alcune li... more [For an abstract in English, please see below]
Dopo una breve disamina che individua alcune linee concettuali considerate come l'origine della narrativa storica giapponese in epoca classica, l'articolo prende in esame la produzione storica di autori giapponesi noti negli ambienti letterari fra la fine dell'Ottocento e l'inizio del Novecento, alcuni dei quali considerati importanti teorici del romanzo moderno, o autori di fiction storica, quali Mori Ogai (1862-1922), Tsubouchi Shoyo (1859-1935), Yamada Bimyo (1868-1910).
The article offers a brief overview of the conceptual stances behind the conscious act of writing fiction based on historical materials in premodern Japan, before discussing to a fai rextent the theories and original pièces authored by important modern Japanese writers such as Mori Ogai, Tsubouchi Shoyo and Yaada Bimyo around the turn of the XIX century.
Riflessioni sul Giappone antico e moderno III, edited by Capponcelli, L.; Hayashi, N.; Villani, P., 2018
[Japanese abstract below]
This paper aims at a thorough rethinking of the literary activity of... more [Japanese abstract below]
This paper aims at a thorough rethinking of the literary activity of Koda Rohan (1867-1947) in view of his prolonged involvement in the field of Japanese Theatre. In order to better understand the significance of this involvement, Rohan's relationship and fervent exchange of ideas with connoiseurs of Western theatre, and advocates of a reform of Japanese theatre such as Mori Ogai (1862-1922) and Tsubouchi Shoyo (1859-1935) are discussed throughout the paper; Rohan's own production of plays is analysed and linked to the revolution that affected Japanese theatre in the XIX and XX centuries, in order to show how he was aware of, and discussed openly in his critical essays, al the major trends of modern theatre, while mantaining his own ideas as to what kind of theatre would be suitable for contemporary audiences in Japan and abroad.
幸田露伴と日本演劇革新
本稿では、幸田露伴と日本近代演劇との関わりを考察する。日本演劇革新者の森鴎外・坪内逍遥と深く親交を結び、文壇上では、主に小説家と見なされることの多い露伴だが、彼は演劇にどのようなモチーフを取り入れ、自分の戯曲作成のためにどのようなインスピレーションを受け、初期・中期演劇活動をどのように展開していったかを紹介する。さらに、露伴の他の著作、エッセイなども考慮に入れつつ、『演劇の本質と重要性』というテーマをめぐって、露伴が日本国民の精神の革新のためにどのような役割を果たそうとしたかについて、彼の思想の脚本家活動に於ける譬喩的解釈を示す。このため、露伴が晩年まで記し続けた明治演劇の文壇の思い出、演劇を扱った様々な論文などを分析し、坪内逍遥らが演劇の革新を唱えていた過渡的な時期に、露伴はどのような貢献をしようとしていたかを明らかにする試みである。
books by Luca Milasi
Reading Japanese Documents from the Marega Collection: An Introductory Manual with Selected Texts., 2021
This file reproduces (in lower res quality format) the table of contents and index of the volume ... more This file reproduces (in lower res quality format) the table of contents and index of the volume about Japanese palaeography by Naohiro ōta introducing the collection of manuscripts at the Vatican Library —over 14,000 documents from Kyushu spanning the 17th-20th centuries, formerly in the possession of Mario Marega (1902-1978), and recently cataloged and digitized and available through NIJL. Apart from the scientific description of the fund and documents, the author and editors jointly devised the volume as a tool for learning to read, transcribe, and translate komonjo (archival documents) of the Edo period. Several appendices include information helpful to understanding komonjo, especially the documents related to Christianity in the Marega Collection. The volume also covers the historical and cultural background of the documentation, a description and categorization of archival documents' main formats, an outline of the grammar of sōrōbun and komonjo reading techniques and methods.
Lingua giapponese classica: un'antologia (dal IX al XIX secolo), 2017
Primo volume nel suo genere in Italia, Lingua giapponese classica. Un’antologia raccoglie una se... more Primo volume nel suo genere in Italia, Lingua giapponese classica. Un’antologia raccoglie una selezione di diciotto opere della letteratura giapponese prodotte nell’arco di mille anni, dal IX al XIX secolo, tanto in prosa che in versi. L’obiettivo didattico è permettere di analizzare e comprendere il testo letterario classico, medievale e premoderno, riconoscendo le principali forme espressive e identificando le diverse componenti morfologiche e la struttura sintattica della proposizione complessa del giapponese classico. A sostegno del lettore, l’antologia include anche schede morfosintattiche e un glossario giapponese classico–italiano, con oltre 1300 lemmi.
La letteratura cinese ha esercitato notevoli suggestioni sulla produzione della generazione di sc... more La letteratura cinese ha esercitato notevoli suggestioni sulla produzione della generazione di scrittori giapponesi attivi nel periodo Meiji (1868-1912). L'ingresso nell'epoca moderna favorisce nei letterati giapponesi una conoscenza diretta della realtà della Cina contemporanea; allo stesso tempo, lo studio della cultura cinese è incentivato dal contatto con le teorie letterarie e scientifiche occidentali, che trasmettono agli autori giapponesi moderni un approccio filologico ai classici: nasce così la moderna sinologia giapponese, a tutt'oggi una delle scuole più puntuali e rigorose. L'influenza, sul piano letterario e linguistico, della cultura cinese sulle opere degli intellettuali giapponesi attivi a fine Ottocento è evidente in scritti autobiografici sugli anni della formazione, registrazioni di dibattiti letterari, stralci di romanzi e racconti originali qui presentati in traduzione per testimoniare la poliedricità dei narratori giapponesi moderni e la loro ammirazione per la letteratura cinese: un amore antico quanto la scoperta della scrittura stessa. (dalla quarta di copertina)
This volume is intended to offer reflections and up-to-date considerations on issues related to v... more This volume is intended to offer reflections and up-to-date considerations on issues related to various areas and periods of the cultural history of Japan. Such ‘reflections’ – from which the volume takes its name – are divided in five sections. While not referring to diachronic criteria or standard thematic fields, this volume encompass literary, linguistic, historical, philological and artistic issues. In addition to offering some interesting results, the variety and the excellence of the proposed contributions also testifies to the significance of the scientific community that gathers around the Italian Association for Japanese Studies.
articles by Luca Milasi
Spaces of performance: Japanese theater in the twentieth century, eds. Matilde Mastrangelo, Luca Milasi, Stefano Romagnoli, 2020
Adaptation (hon’an) and translation (hon’yaku) of Shakespeare’s plays are the key strategies that... more Adaptation (hon’an) and translation (hon’yaku) of Shakespeare’s plays are the key strategies that the Meiji literati endorsed to appropriate Shakespeare’s cultural heritage. In the works of Shakespeare’s first Japanese translator and critic, Tsubouchi Shōyō, there is a shift from “loose adaptation” of Western dramas (including Shakespeare), which was the most popular mode of staging Shakespeare’s works from the 1880s, to quasi-verbatim translation of his plays, which, in Shōyō’s outlook, had virtually substituted any other means of adaptation by the first two decades
of the twentieth century. This shift clearly reflects the increasing awareness of Japanese intellectuals of the need to acknowledge the greatness of Shakespeare as a playwright as well as the importance of creating a new concept of modern Japanese drama upon the premise of giving relevance to the text and the author. It also fosters Shōyō’s view of theatre translation technology as a means to guide readers to an understanding and appreciation of actual dramatic performance. Adapting
Shakespeare’s plays in Japanese was an occasion for Shōyō to foster in his contemporaries a rethinking of the theatrical genre, redefining its borders and the overall value. His critical essays, particularly during the latter stage, reveal Shakespeare’s pivotal role in the development of Japanese drama. We shall present, therefore, excerpts from diverse essays by Shōyō in order to tackle the
fundamental question of the overall significance of Shakespeare’s reception in the cultural context of Modern Japan.
Phoenix in Domo Foscari, 2009
This paper analyzes the impact of Chinese culture on Japanese modern writer Mori Ōgai (actual nam... more This paper analyzes the impact of Chinese culture on Japanese modern writer Mori Ōgai (actual name Mori Rintarō, 1862-1922), regarded by some as one of the prominent writers of the Meiji period (1868- 1912); the dissertation focuses on presenting and commenting a set of
diverse texts which reveal Ōgai’s interest in Chinese culture.
Traditionally, Ōgai’s literature is associated with Western thought and ideals, though most critics do recognize the kanbun (classical chinese) training he received as a young man of letter as a matter of some relevance for the development of his style of prose; reconsidering the impact of Ōgai’s early training in the Chinese classics, however, is by no means the only source accounting for the subtle, yet overall considerable influence of Chinese literary themes in his mature years as a writer of fiction. It is in his late works, then, that one has
to search for his growing reputation as a sinophile.
Is it possible to open a new perspective over Ōgaii’s interest in Chinese culture presenting several examples of the Chinese sources he read and employed in shaping his own literary tastes. Ōgai also contributed to gradually change the way in which Meiji literati would judge the value of literary works, and influenced favourably the process of rediscovery of forgotten Chinese and Japanese works of the past with his own critical thought, thoroughly working towards broadening his knowledge of Chinese and Japanese literature, along with the
study of Western fonts.
In this respect, translation excerpts provided in the appendix should be of help in clarifying how Ōgai’s outlook on Chinese
literature changed over time, to the point that he developed a more mature approach to the study of Chinese culture, and Chinese language itself. The material commented includes forums such as Hyoshinryo Iroku (‘Scattered Recordings on Notable Works’, recorded ca. 1895 onwards), transcribed and printed on literary magazines, and two concrete examples revealing how his knowledge of the Chinese language and culture enabled Ōgai to derive literary themes and techniques from Chinese fiction. These are the short stories Yasui Fujin (‘The Wife of Yasui’ 1914), and Gyogenki (‘Yu Xuanji’, 1915).
Adaptation (hon’an) and translation (hon’yaku) of Shakespeare’s plays in Japan in the age of Mode... more Adaptation (hon’an) and translation (hon’yaku) of Shakespeare’s plays in Japan in the age of Modernization (the Meiji and Taishō periods, 1868–1912 and 1912–26, respectively) both constitute complex objects of study. A careful analysis of this apparently ambiguous cultural entity offers a glimpse into the wide-ranging interests that the Meiji literati displayed in inheriting and interpreting Shakespeare’s cultural heritage. In their recent review of Shakespeare’s reception and performance in Asia, Kennedy and Young (2010) distinguish the kinds of reception that Shakespearean canon received in Asian countries by means of three main strategies whose cultural significance varies greatly depending on the social and cultural context. These are: nationalist appropriation (specifically referring to China), colonial instigation (India), and intercultural revision. The authors seem to imply that, of these three, intercultural revision – the most innovative, referring to productions that adapt the text to foreign modes of performance – is not associated with any specific geographical space. Using this theoretical framework, aim to demonstrate how the kind of performances originating from this intercultural adaptation, and often giving the most impressive results in terms of visual inventions as well, defy time as well as location, and, in the case of Japan, may be traced back to the time when Shakespeare’s canon was first introduced, i.e. the Meiji Era (1868–1912). This would help to understand the conceptual and cultural basis for the constant efforts of Japanese directors involved in recent production of Shakespeare’s plays in the theatre and as well as films, or other more pop-culture oriented media; efforts, in fact, increasingly appreciated worldwide. In the works of Shakespeare’s first Japanese translators and critics, there is a shift from adaptation of western dramas (including Shakespeare), which was the most popular mode of staging Shakespeare’s works from the 1880s, to verbatim translations of his plays, which had virtually substituted any other means of adaptation by the first two decades of the 20th century. This shift clearly reflects the increasing awareness of Japanese intellectuals of the need to acknowledge the greatness of Shakespeare as a playwright as well as the importance of creating a new concept of modern Japanese drama upon the premise of giving relevance to the text and the author in more general terms. Adapting or translating Shakespeare’s plays in Japanese in the 19th and 20th century is an occasion for Meiji intellectuals to rethink completely the theatrical genre, redefining its borders and the overall value. In this respect a closer examination of critical essays by the renowned translators of Shakespeare, such as Tsubouchi Shōyō (1859–1935) and Mori Ōgai (1862–1922) is a key strategy in order to assess Shakespeare’s pivotal role in the development of Japanese drama. We shall present, therefore, excerpts from diverse essays in order to tackle the fundamental question of the overall significance of Shakespeare’s reception in the cultural context of Modern Japan.
This paper focuses on a brief analysis of the overall significance that modern Japanese historica... more This paper focuses on a brief analysis of the overall significance that modern Japanese historical fiction, inheriting a long and florid tradition, came to represent for the literary establishment. The modern historical novel developed fully between the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries, taking the form of rekishi shōsetsu (historical novel) which stimulated, decades later, the subgenre of Jidai shōsetsu (popular historical romances). Comparison with the early efforts in the genre highlights how the modern eye reaffirmed the need to shift the focus from recording faithfully historical matters (ko-ji) ‘as these have been passed over’ to interpreting history by means of fictionalization; the former being a habit which traces back to the origins of Japanese literature and the its first literary documents. The newly found awareness of Meiji Writers marks the difference in that, in contemporary historical novels, the dichotomy between ‘actual’ truth and historical fictionalization is complete: the developing debate around the value of the novel (shōsetsu) as a literary genre of distinction, along with the specific conditions that arouse within the framework of Japan’s cultural achievements, carve out a portrait of Japanese writers of historical romances as eager to preserve the country’s cultural dimension while correcting superficial trends of that time’s literary fashions.
This paper examines the indirect influence that female writers of the turn of the XIXth Century a... more This paper examines the indirect influence that female writers of the turn of the XIXth Century and their writings exerted over some choices of content in the historical fiction of modern Japanese author Mori Ôgai (actual name Mori Rintaro,1862-1922). The main concern and focus of the dissertation is female characters’ depiction in the short stories Gyogenki and Yasui Fujin (1915-16), partially translated throughout the dissetation.
Interactions between Ôgai and his circle of male literati and some important woman writers of the Meiji era are also discussed.
The dissertation aims at assessing and discussing contemporary critics' views on Mori Ôgai’s historical fiction as a means of social analysis. In order to shape this new perspective on the significance of Ôgai's historical narratives, a thorough reconsidering of the impact of Ôgai's
literary output on his public of mostly male literati is outlined; his investigation of role of women in premodern Chinese and Japanese society, as well the influence of his early training in Chinese and Japanese classics on the literature of his mature years, are also briefly discussed elements of investigation that further incentivate Ôgai's definite shift from fiction to history-in-fiction.
These represent a modern man's understanding of the cultural past of his country; Ôgai's heroines are therefore to be considered a compelling cultural model and the answer to a social demand, the relatively few elements of departure from historical truth being, in the characterization of Ôgai's women, an occasional reliance on symbolism directed as a warning to a relentlessly evolving society. Ôgai's portrayals, though sometimes different from their real counterpart, appear then clearly to be much more the likenesses of a factual truth than historical characters fictionalized.
The two concrete examples I chose to focus on to complete the dissertation are Ôgai's short stories Yasui Fujin (‘The Wife of
Yasui’), and Gyogenki (‘Yu Xuanji’), whose setting is ancient Japan and China respectively.
L'articolo è incentrato sul romanzo "Gan" ("L'oca selvatica", 1911-15), dello scrittore giappones... more L'articolo è incentrato sul romanzo "Gan" ("L'oca selvatica", 1911-15), dello scrittore giapponese moderno Mori Ogai (pseudon. di Mori Rintaro, 1862-1922). In esso si tenta di stabilire una relazione tra l'opera dello scrittore giapponese e le sue frequentazioni letterarie cinesi, mediante un'analisi dei riferimenti cinesi che compaiono nel romanzo.
Translations by Luca Milasi
ZEAMI MOTOKIYO - HIDETOSHI NAGASAWA
La veste di piume, 2013
50x35/ 36 pag/ 75
cod B17
Esempla... more ZEAMI MOTOKIYO - HIDETOSHI NAGASAWA
La veste di piume, 2013
50x35/ 36 pag/ 75
cod B17
Esemplare testo del teatro Nō del XV secolo, nella versione originale e nella traduzione inedita di Luca Milasi. Composizione testi in italiano di Rodolfo Campi in Dante c 14, stampati su Amatruda puro cotone da 200 g da Tipoteca Italiana Fondazione. I primi 35 esemplari corredati da un multiplo su rame di Hidetoshi Nagasawa numerato e firmato dall'artista, realizzato con la collaborazione tecnica di Roberto Giudici e Tommaso Grillini. Legatura artigianale di Sandro Francescon.
Papers by Luca Milasi
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This paper attempts to present the literary personality of the novelist and exegete Kōda Rohan (pseudonym of Kōda Shigeyuki, 1867–1947) in the cultural context of modernity. Behind the façade of old-style literatus, Kōda Rohan strives to seize the opportunity to reform the concept of fiction in his own way. His goal is that of proposing an alternative model of fiction that is distinctively unique in comparison to a sheer imitation of Western culture, particularly in its romantic stances. The main device he employs to pursue his goal at an early stage is a coherent and thoughtful reliance to the view of the doctrinal foundations of East-Asian philosophies as a literary theme. Rohan’s case is exemplary in that his wide reliance on (and almost constant allusions to) pivotal Buddhist concepts as literary technique offer an allegory for the new significance that its author attributes to the creative process behind writing fiction at a time of reform and change. Moreover, in his early work, Rohan’s preoccupation over presenting a view of Romanticism more coherent with his own’s cultural asset was also at stake. By means of a thorough rethinking of the broader significance of key philosophical concepts in Rohan’s early fiction, I shall present concrete examples to back up the view that the heavy reliance on Buddhist doctrine informing Rohan’s first attempts at literary creation conceals an eminently modern interpretation of the main stances of Japanese pre-modern culture, which testifies to the author’s relevance as a modern thinker.
[要旨]
本稿では、幸田露伴の作品と仏教との関わりを考察する。特に、『法華 経』、『般若心経』など、東アジアの大乗仏教の主な経典から、小説家 露伴はどのようなモチーフを取り入れ、それらの経典からインスピレー ションを受けて彼の初期小説にどのような女性像が描かれたのかを検討 する。更に、露伴の他の著作、エッセイなども考慮に入れつつ、『風流 佛』という小説の譬喩的解釈を示す。『風流佛』の主人公珠運の美の 探究と、その探求を妨げるかのような珠運の初恋というプロットの展 開が、著者の思想の変遷においてどのような意義を持つかを検討し、 坪内逍遥などが小説の革新を唱えていた過渡的な時期の文壇に露伴は どのような貢献を与えようとしていたかを明らかにする試みである。
L'avvento nel 19 ° secolo di nuove forme teatrali giapponesi, come ad esempio shinpa e shingeki, sancisce, accanto al successo dei popolari generi tradizionali teatrali quali kabuki, un'occasione per gli intellettuali Meiji ripensare il genere teatrale, ridefinendo i suoi confini, sia in termini di ciò che era l'oggetto della rappresentazione, sia riguardo al ruolo centrale del testo drammatico, già un elemento chiave nella teoria implicita che sosteneva lo sviluppo del genere teatrale. Un fenomeno saliente del teatro giapponese alla fine del XIX secolo è pertanto individuabile a partire dal repertorio delle compagnie giapponesi, per la prima volta impegnate nel compito di portare in scena in contemporanea autori teatrali diversi come Shakespeare, Ibsen, Gorky, Cechov, Goethe: mentre la prima introduzione del teatro occidentale in Giappone aveva avuto luogo in forma scritta fino al 1880, e aveva implicitamente sancito l'idea, nuova per i critici del tempo, che il dramma fosse un genere letterario in sé, tanto quanto la poesia o narrativa, gli adattamenti scritti o messi in scena fino a quel momento erano spesso stati associati ai generi più tradizionali, che riflettevano vecchie concezioni; ma i nuovi movimenti teatrali, pur ispirandosi al kabuki ed al joruri, avrebbero garantito al dramma d'importazione occidentale di registrare, a volte, successi ancora maggiori rispetto ai nuovi drammi, relativamente poco considerati, di scrittori giapponesi che pure si sono prodotti in seno al teatro contemporaneo. Per quanto riguarda quest'ultimi, è necessario osservare come un altro fenomeno di rilievo del teatro giapponese fra Otto e Novecento sia proprio il dilettantismo teatrale dei maggiori narratori giapponesi moderni: tra il XIX ed il XX secolo, molti scrittori e intellettuali che erano anche traduttori lingue europee, ma non poteva certo essere considerati drammaturghi di professione nel senso tradizionale del termine, come Tsubouchi Shōyō (1859-1935), Mori Ogai (1862-1922), Koda Rohan (1867-1947), Ozaki Koyo (1868-1903), tentarono un rinnovamento del dramma giapponese proponendo una serie di drammi originali nel complesso di modesta portata, ma importanti anche perché accompagnati da riflessioni effettuate dai loro autori in sede critica che, al pari di quanto accadeva per gli adattamenti occidentali e le traduzioni di opere teatrali da loro stessi effettuate, e i relativi saggi critici, offrivano una sorta di teoria implicita, prima base teorica di un profondo rinnovamento che nel tempo avrebbe coinvolto il concetto stesso del dramma e del teatro giapponese.
Around and about dramatic texts : the first stage adaptations, from Shakespeare onwards, as an implicit model for a new drama in late 19th-century Japan.
The advent in 19th-century Japan of new theatrical forms, such as shinpa and shingeki, marked, alongside the success of popular traditional theatrical genres such as kabuki, an occasion for Meiji intellectuals to rethink the theatrical genre, redefining its borders, in terms of both what was worth representing, and the pivotal role of the dramatic text, which was already an implicitly key element in the theory sustaining the development in the genre. A striking phenomenon of the theatre in the late nineteenth century is the choice made by Japanese troupes of putting on stage authors as diverse as Shakespeare, Ibsen, Gorky, Chekhov, Goethe: while the first introduction of Western theatre in Japan had taken place in writing up to the 1880s, and had implicitly sanctioned the idea, new to the critics of the time , that the drama was a literary genre in itself, as much as poetry or fiction, the adaptations written or put on stage up to that point had frequently been associated with more traditional genres, reflecting old conceptions; but the new movements, while drawing inspiration from kabuki and jōruri theatres, mostly allowed Western drama to be, at times, even more popular than the relatively little considered new dramas of Japanese authors which also informed the contemporary theater. Regarding the latter, it should also be noted that between the nineteenth and the twentieth century, many writers and intellectuals who were also translators from European languages, but could hardly be labelled mainstream playwrights in themselves, such as Tsubouchi Shōyō (1859-1935), Mori Ōgai (1862-1922 ), Kōda Rohan (1867-1947), Ozaki Kōyō (1868-1903), attempted a renewal of Japanese drama proposing a series of original pieces of overall modest scope, yet crucial for the fact that these plays were accompanied by essays that, like Western adaptations and translations of plays by the same authors, and the related critical essays, offered a kind of implicit theory, a first basis of the profound renewal of the very concept of Japanese drama and theatre.
[Japanese abstract below]
This paper investigates the fiction of Tokugawa writer Kyokutei Bakin (Style name of Takizawa Okikuni, 1767-1848) from the standpoint of the Meiji literary establishment. Bakin was a prolific writer whose works, despite their popular success, rapidly fell into the umbrella category of gesaku (lit. “divertissement”). In fact they were considered minor fiction by intellectuals until Bakin’s reputation began to be reaffirmed by important authors of the Meiji period.
The debate about the contents, style and overall value of the gesaku tradition paralleled the contrast between reality and fiction in the original works of Meiji novelists who were active and became prominent in the field of literary criticism at the turn of the century. Tsubouchi Shoyo’s considerations on Bakin’s fiction in his seminal essay Shosetsu shinzui (The Essence of the Novel, 1885-7) launched a critical debate about the value of Japanese and Chinese antiquity which led intellectuals of the time to reconsider the peculiarities of Tokugawa fiction. This is increasingly evident in the efforts made by the 'classicist' and exegete Koda Rohan (1867-1947), and the translator and novelist Mori Ogai (1862-1922), to put forward proposals for a new model for historical fiction based primarily on accurate historical documentation. It is interesting to focus on the shifting perspective of Meiji writers concerning the works of Bakin as they redefine the boundaries between Japan’s treasured literary legacy and the new trends emerging in the bundan around the end of the 19th century.
----
"事実と小説の間－明治期の文芸評論にみられる江戸戯作の再検討"
本稿では、逍遥・鴎外・露伴の文芸論や随筆をもとにして、この作家たちの江戸戯作に対する見方の展開を考察する。特に、彼らの文芸評論から重要な箇所を幾つかとりあげ、明治時代における曲亭（滝沢）馬琴の戯作への評価がどのように変わっていったかを示す。明治の新小説の理論家である逍遥の『小説神髄』における馬琴についての発言、これを受けて書かれた鴎外初期の評論『今の諸家の小説論を読みて』の中の日本古典の再検討がうかがわれる箇所、そして、歴史随筆とも言える『運命』（大正8年）にみられる幸田露伴の馬琴評を考える試みである。
Dopo una breve disamina che individua alcune linee concettuali considerate come l'origine della narrativa storica giapponese in epoca classica, l'articolo prende in esame la produzione storica di autori giapponesi noti negli ambienti letterari fra la fine dell'Ottocento e l'inizio del Novecento, alcuni dei quali considerati importanti teorici del romanzo moderno, o autori di fiction storica, quali Mori Ogai (1862-1922), Tsubouchi Shoyo (1859-1935), Yamada Bimyo (1868-1910).
The article offers a brief overview of the conceptual stances behind the conscious act of writing fiction based on historical materials in premodern Japan, before discussing to a fai rextent the theories and original pièces authored by important modern Japanese writers such as Mori Ogai, Tsubouchi Shoyo and Yaada Bimyo around the turn of the XIX century.
This paper aims at a thorough rethinking of the literary activity of Koda Rohan (1867-1947) in view of his prolonged involvement in the field of Japanese Theatre. In order to better understand the significance of this involvement, Rohan's relationship and fervent exchange of ideas with connoiseurs of Western theatre, and advocates of a reform of Japanese theatre such as Mori Ogai (1862-1922) and Tsubouchi Shoyo (1859-1935) are discussed throughout the paper; Rohan's own production of plays is analysed and linked to the revolution that affected Japanese theatre in the XIX and XX centuries, in order to show how he was aware of, and discussed openly in his critical essays, al the major trends of modern theatre, while mantaining his own ideas as to what kind of theatre would be suitable for contemporary audiences in Japan and abroad.
幸田露伴と日本演劇革新
本稿では、幸田露伴と日本近代演劇との関わりを考察する。日本演劇革新者の森鴎外・坪内逍遥と深く親交を結び、文壇上では、主に小説家と見なされることの多い露伴だが、彼は演劇にどのようなモチーフを取り入れ、自分の戯曲作成のためにどのようなインスピレーションを受け、初期・中期演劇活動をどのように展開していったかを紹介する。さらに、露伴の他の著作、エッセイなども考慮に入れつつ、『演劇の本質と重要性』というテーマをめぐって、露伴が日本国民の精神の革新のためにどのような役割を果たそうとしたかについて、彼の思想の脚本家活動に於ける譬喩的解釈を示す。このため、露伴が晩年まで記し続けた明治演劇の文壇の思い出、演劇を扱った様々な論文などを分析し、坪内逍遥らが演劇の革新を唱えていた過渡的な時期に、露伴はどのような貢献をしようとしていたかを明らかにする試みである。
books by Luca Milasi
articles by Luca Milasi
of the twentieth century. This shift clearly reflects the increasing awareness of Japanese intellectuals of the need to acknowledge the greatness of Shakespeare as a playwright as well as the importance of creating a new concept of modern Japanese drama upon the premise of giving relevance to the text and the author. It also fosters Shōyō’s view of theatre translation technology as a means to guide readers to an understanding and appreciation of actual dramatic performance. Adapting
Shakespeare’s plays in Japanese was an occasion for Shōyō to foster in his contemporaries a rethinking of the theatrical genre, redefining its borders and the overall value. His critical essays, particularly during the latter stage, reveal Shakespeare’s pivotal role in the development of Japanese drama. We shall present, therefore, excerpts from diverse essays by Shōyō in order to tackle the
fundamental question of the overall significance of Shakespeare’s reception in the cultural context of Modern Japan.
Translations by Luca Milasi
Papers by Luca Milasi
This paper attempts to present the literary personality of the novelist and exegete Kōda Rohan (pseudonym of Kōda Shigeyuki, 1867–1947) in the cultural context of modernity. Behind the façade of old-style literatus, Kōda Rohan strives to seize the opportunity to reform the concept of fiction in his own way. His goal is that of proposing an alternative model of fiction that is distinctively unique in comparison to a sheer imitation of Western culture, particularly in its romantic stances. The main device he employs to pursue his goal at an early stage is a coherent and thoughtful reliance to the view of the doctrinal foundations of East-Asian philosophies as a literary theme. Rohan’s case is exemplary in that his wide reliance on (and almost constant allusions to) pivotal Buddhist concepts as literary technique offer an allegory for the new significance that its author attributes to the creative process behind writing fiction at a time of reform and change. Moreover, in his early work, Rohan’s preoccupation over presenting a view of Romanticism more coherent with his own’s cultural asset was also at stake. By means of a thorough rethinking of the broader significance of key philosophical concepts in Rohan’s early fiction, I shall present concrete examples to back up the view that the heavy reliance on Buddhist doctrine informing Rohan’s first attempts at literary creation conceals an eminently modern interpretation of the main stances of Japanese pre-modern culture, which testifies to the author’s relevance as a modern thinker.
[要旨]
本稿では、幸田露伴の作品と仏教との関わりを考察する。特に、『法華 経』、『般若心経』など、東アジアの大乗仏教の主な経典から、小説家 露伴はどのようなモチーフを取り入れ、それらの経典からインスピレー ションを受けて彼の初期小説にどのような女性像が描かれたのかを検討 する。更に、露伴の他の著作、エッセイなども考慮に入れつつ、『風流 佛』という小説の譬喩的解釈を示す。『風流佛』の主人公珠運の美の 探究と、その探求を妨げるかのような珠運の初恋というプロットの展 開が、著者の思想の変遷においてどのような意義を持つかを検討し、 坪内逍遥などが小説の革新を唱えていた過渡的な時期の文壇に露伴は どのような貢献を与えようとしていたかを明らかにする試みである。
L'avvento nel 19 ° secolo di nuove forme teatrali giapponesi, come ad esempio shinpa e shingeki, sancisce, accanto al successo dei popolari generi tradizionali teatrali quali kabuki, un'occasione per gli intellettuali Meiji ripensare il genere teatrale, ridefinendo i suoi confini, sia in termini di ciò che era l'oggetto della rappresentazione, sia riguardo al ruolo centrale del testo drammatico, già un elemento chiave nella teoria implicita che sosteneva lo sviluppo del genere teatrale. Un fenomeno saliente del teatro giapponese alla fine del XIX secolo è pertanto individuabile a partire dal repertorio delle compagnie giapponesi, per la prima volta impegnate nel compito di portare in scena in contemporanea autori teatrali diversi come Shakespeare, Ibsen, Gorky, Cechov, Goethe: mentre la prima introduzione del teatro occidentale in Giappone aveva avuto luogo in forma scritta fino al 1880, e aveva implicitamente sancito l'idea, nuova per i critici del tempo, che il dramma fosse un genere letterario in sé, tanto quanto la poesia o narrativa, gli adattamenti scritti o messi in scena fino a quel momento erano spesso stati associati ai generi più tradizionali, che riflettevano vecchie concezioni; ma i nuovi movimenti teatrali, pur ispirandosi al kabuki ed al joruri, avrebbero garantito al dramma d'importazione occidentale di registrare, a volte, successi ancora maggiori rispetto ai nuovi drammi, relativamente poco considerati, di scrittori giapponesi che pure si sono prodotti in seno al teatro contemporaneo. Per quanto riguarda quest'ultimi, è necessario osservare come un altro fenomeno di rilievo del teatro giapponese fra Otto e Novecento sia proprio il dilettantismo teatrale dei maggiori narratori giapponesi moderni: tra il XIX ed il XX secolo, molti scrittori e intellettuali che erano anche traduttori lingue europee, ma non poteva certo essere considerati drammaturghi di professione nel senso tradizionale del termine, come Tsubouchi Shōyō (1859-1935), Mori Ogai (1862-1922), Koda Rohan (1867-1947), Ozaki Koyo (1868-1903), tentarono un rinnovamento del dramma giapponese proponendo una serie di drammi originali nel complesso di modesta portata, ma importanti anche perché accompagnati da riflessioni effettuate dai loro autori in sede critica che, al pari di quanto accadeva per gli adattamenti occidentali e le traduzioni di opere teatrali da loro stessi effettuate, e i relativi saggi critici, offrivano una sorta di teoria implicita, prima base teorica di un profondo rinnovamento che nel tempo avrebbe coinvolto il concetto stesso del dramma e del teatro giapponese.
Around and about dramatic texts : the first stage adaptations, from Shakespeare onwards, as an implicit model for a new drama in late 19th-century Japan.
The advent in 19th-century Japan of new theatrical forms, such as shinpa and shingeki, marked, alongside the success of popular traditional theatrical genres such as kabuki, an occasion for Meiji intellectuals to rethink the theatrical genre, redefining its borders, in terms of both what was worth representing, and the pivotal role of the dramatic text, which was already an implicitly key element in the theory sustaining the development in the genre. A striking phenomenon of the theatre in the late nineteenth century is the choice made by Japanese troupes of putting on stage authors as diverse as Shakespeare, Ibsen, Gorky, Chekhov, Goethe: while the first introduction of Western theatre in Japan had taken place in writing up to the 1880s, and had implicitly sanctioned the idea, new to the critics of the time , that the drama was a literary genre in itself, as much as poetry or fiction, the adaptations written or put on stage up to that point had frequently been associated with more traditional genres, reflecting old conceptions; but the new movements, while drawing inspiration from kabuki and jōruri theatres, mostly allowed Western drama to be, at times, even more popular than the relatively little considered new dramas of Japanese authors which also informed the contemporary theater. Regarding the latter, it should also be noted that between the nineteenth and the twentieth century, many writers and intellectuals who were also translators from European languages, but could hardly be labelled mainstream playwrights in themselves, such as Tsubouchi Shōyō (1859-1935), Mori Ōgai (1862-1922 ), Kōda Rohan (1867-1947), Ozaki Kōyō (1868-1903), attempted a renewal of Japanese drama proposing a series of original pieces of overall modest scope, yet crucial for the fact that these plays were accompanied by essays that, like Western adaptations and translations of plays by the same authors, and the related critical essays, offered a kind of implicit theory, a first basis of the profound renewal of the very concept of Japanese drama and theatre.
[Japanese abstract below]
This paper investigates the fiction of Tokugawa writer Kyokutei Bakin (Style name of Takizawa Okikuni, 1767-1848) from the standpoint of the Meiji literary establishment. Bakin was a prolific writer whose works, despite their popular success, rapidly fell into the umbrella category of gesaku (lit. “divertissement”). In fact they were considered minor fiction by intellectuals until Bakin’s reputation began to be reaffirmed by important authors of the Meiji period.
The debate about the contents, style and overall value of the gesaku tradition paralleled the contrast between reality and fiction in the original works of Meiji novelists who were active and became prominent in the field of literary criticism at the turn of the century. Tsubouchi Shoyo’s considerations on Bakin’s fiction in his seminal essay Shosetsu shinzui (The Essence of the Novel, 1885-7) launched a critical debate about the value of Japanese and Chinese antiquity which led intellectuals of the time to reconsider the peculiarities of Tokugawa fiction. This is increasingly evident in the efforts made by the 'classicist' and exegete Koda Rohan (1867-1947), and the translator and novelist Mori Ogai (1862-1922), to put forward proposals for a new model for historical fiction based primarily on accurate historical documentation. It is interesting to focus on the shifting perspective of Meiji writers concerning the works of Bakin as they redefine the boundaries between Japan’s treasured literary legacy and the new trends emerging in the bundan around the end of the 19th century.
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"事実と小説の間－明治期の文芸評論にみられる江戸戯作の再検討"
本稿では、逍遥・鴎外・露伴の文芸論や随筆をもとにして、この作家たちの江戸戯作に対する見方の展開を考察する。特に、彼らの文芸評論から重要な箇所を幾つかとりあげ、明治時代における曲亭（滝沢）馬琴の戯作への評価がどのように変わっていったかを示す。明治の新小説の理論家である逍遥の『小説神髄』における馬琴についての発言、これを受けて書かれた鴎外初期の評論『今の諸家の小説論を読みて』の中の日本古典の再検討がうかがわれる箇所、そして、歴史随筆とも言える『運命』（大正8年）にみられる幸田露伴の馬琴評を考える試みである。
Dopo una breve disamina che individua alcune linee concettuali considerate come l'origine della narrativa storica giapponese in epoca classica, l'articolo prende in esame la produzione storica di autori giapponesi noti negli ambienti letterari fra la fine dell'Ottocento e l'inizio del Novecento, alcuni dei quali considerati importanti teorici del romanzo moderno, o autori di fiction storica, quali Mori Ogai (1862-1922), Tsubouchi Shoyo (1859-1935), Yamada Bimyo (1868-1910).
The article offers a brief overview of the conceptual stances behind the conscious act of writing fiction based on historical materials in premodern Japan, before discussing to a fai rextent the theories and original pièces authored by important modern Japanese writers such as Mori Ogai, Tsubouchi Shoyo and Yaada Bimyo around the turn of the XIX century.
This paper aims at a thorough rethinking of the literary activity of Koda Rohan (1867-1947) in view of his prolonged involvement in the field of Japanese Theatre. In order to better understand the significance of this involvement, Rohan's relationship and fervent exchange of ideas with connoiseurs of Western theatre, and advocates of a reform of Japanese theatre such as Mori Ogai (1862-1922) and Tsubouchi Shoyo (1859-1935) are discussed throughout the paper; Rohan's own production of plays is analysed and linked to the revolution that affected Japanese theatre in the XIX and XX centuries, in order to show how he was aware of, and discussed openly in his critical essays, al the major trends of modern theatre, while mantaining his own ideas as to what kind of theatre would be suitable for contemporary audiences in Japan and abroad.
幸田露伴と日本演劇革新
本稿では、幸田露伴と日本近代演劇との関わりを考察する。日本演劇革新者の森鴎外・坪内逍遥と深く親交を結び、文壇上では、主に小説家と見なされることの多い露伴だが、彼は演劇にどのようなモチーフを取り入れ、自分の戯曲作成のためにどのようなインスピレーションを受け、初期・中期演劇活動をどのように展開していったかを紹介する。さらに、露伴の他の著作、エッセイなども考慮に入れつつ、『演劇の本質と重要性』というテーマをめぐって、露伴が日本国民の精神の革新のためにどのような役割を果たそうとしたかについて、彼の思想の脚本家活動に於ける譬喩的解釈を示す。このため、露伴が晩年まで記し続けた明治演劇の文壇の思い出、演劇を扱った様々な論文などを分析し、坪内逍遥らが演劇の革新を唱えていた過渡的な時期に、露伴はどのような貢献をしようとしていたかを明らかにする試みである。
of the twentieth century. This shift clearly reflects the increasing awareness of Japanese intellectuals of the need to acknowledge the greatness of Shakespeare as a playwright as well as the importance of creating a new concept of modern Japanese drama upon the premise of giving relevance to the text and the author. It also fosters Shōyō’s view of theatre translation technology as a means to guide readers to an understanding and appreciation of actual dramatic performance. Adapting
Shakespeare’s plays in Japanese was an occasion for Shōyō to foster in his contemporaries a rethinking of the theatrical genre, redefining its borders and the overall value. His critical essays, particularly during the latter stage, reveal Shakespeare’s pivotal role in the development of Japanese drama. We shall present, therefore, excerpts from diverse essays by Shōyō in order to tackle the
fundamental question of the overall significance of Shakespeare’s reception in the cultural context of Modern Japan.