Kyu Eikan, From Dakusuikei to Honkon (1955) : The Impact of the Naoki Prize

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  • 邱永漢「濁水渓」から「香港」へ : 直木賞が開いたものと閉ざしたもの
  • キュウエイカン 「 ダクスイケイ 」 カラ 「 ホンコン 」 エ : ナオキショウ ガ ヒライタ モノ ト トザシタ モノ

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Abstract

Kyu Eikan has been known widely among scholars of Japanese language and literature as the first Taiwanese Naoki Prize recipient, and yet there have not been many studies of his works. In order to rectify this lack, this study considers the newly emerged fact that one of his representative works,Dakusuikei (Muddled Ravine, 1954), had a Part 3 that was missing at the time of publication and during consideration for the Naoki Prize. In Part 2, the narrator, "I," decides to defect to Hong Kong, and it turns out that in Part 3 the narrator engages in the Taiwan Independence Movement in Hong Kong. One hypothesis is that Kyu himself or the publisher self-censored and eliminated it in light of the international political climate at that time. Kyu later rewrote Part 3 into a popular novel, Honkon (Hong Kong,1955), with a less political tone. This strategy of depoliticization, starting with the excision of the more political version of Part 3 from the prepublication draft of Dakusuikei, may have enabled Kyu to win a Naoki Prize. The Naoki Prize symbolizes the appreciation for Kyu among the literary circles and reading public in Japan; they, however, ignored the problems in East Asia he depicted. This paper points out the significance and the limits of this prestigious literary prize, and argues the importance of re-examining Kyu's text.

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