A Study of Akutagawa Ryunosuke's "Giwaku" : The Return of "Madman" and "Monster"

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  • 芥川龍之介「疑惑」論 : 回帰する「狂人」と「怪物」
  • アクタガワ リュウノスケ 「 ギワク 」 ロン : カイキ スル 「 キョウジン 」 ト 「 カイブツ 」

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Abstract

Akutagawa Ryunosuke's "Giwaku" (Suspicions) has been regarded as a defective work with too many deviations in the form of details unrelated to the whole. In this paper, I present new possibilities of interpretation by examining the significance of Gendo's words, such as "Kyojin" (madman) and "Kaibutsu" (monster) to his listener "Jissen Rinri Gakusha" (practical moralist) in conjunction with contemporary discourse. The details that have been deemed sheer nonsense prove to be allusions to the political background of the work, such as "Kyoiku Chokugo Tekkai Fusetsu Jiken" (Incident of Rumors of the Repeal of The Imperial Rescript on Education), "Tetsugakukan Jiken" (Tetsugakukan Incident), "Nanbokucho Seijun Ron" (Disputes over the Legitimacy of the Royal Family since the Period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties), "Hangyakuron Jiken" (Rebellion Lecture Incident) and the assassination of Ito Hirobumi. Gendo's narrative derives its dynamics from the return of the repressed and its amplification as "Giwaku," which infects the listener "Watashi" (I) and creates the complexity of the multi-layered narrative structure of the work.

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