The Making of the Non-Western Protagonist : On Botchan by NATSUME Sōseki

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  • 非西欧型主人公の造形 : 『坊つちやん』について
  • ヒセイオウガタ シュジンコウ ノ ゾウケイ : 『 ボウツチ ヤ ン 』 ニ ツイテ
  • ヒセイオウ ガタ シュジンコウ ノ ゾウケイ : 『ボツチヤン』ニツイテ

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Abstract

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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate what personality type a non-Western Protagonist possesses. Edward Morgan Forster(1879-1970) suggested that main characters in Western novels are required to have growth by experience, a secret inner life, and active behavior. Following Forster’s study, this paper discusses whether Botchan meets these requirements or not and here it is hypothesized that Botchan is modeled as a non-Western Protagonist. This paper examines NATSUME Sōseki’s (1867-1916)essays focusing on the facial expression theory in"Kusamakura (1906)" and "Sanshiro (1908)" to verify the hypothesis above. As a conclusion, this paper points out that the non-Western Protagonist’s personality type consist of “F + f”, as proposed by Sōseki in "Literary Theory (1907)". “F” is the inclusive character, and “f” is the extensional character. The non-Western Protagonists’ personality type has a dual form consisting of F and f. Soseki’s attempt to create the non-Western Protagonist, beginning with “Botchan (1906)”, bore fruit in Kiyoko in “Meian (1916)”. On the basis of the commonalities in Botchan and Kiyoko’s personalities, Botchan's “Muteppo” and Kiyoko's “Kanman” can be categorized as having the character of “F”, whose behavior can be characterized as physical, accidental, and passive. The character of “f” is a collection of diverse characteristics shared among people. Looking at the diverse characteristics of “f”, Botchan's directness and Kiyoko's childlikeness are unique in that they are not shared by the other characters in the novels. These characters are inherited from the ancient image of humans discovered by Kokugaku movement during the Edo period.

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