The “Third Term,” Narration, and the Revelation of the Narrative Base: Reading “Chirinuruwo,” Yasunari Kawabata’s Documentary Crime Novel

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Other Title
  • 「〈第三項〉と〈語り〉」がひらく、深層の〈意味〉
  • 「〈第三項〉と〈語り〉」がひらく、深層の〈意味〉 : 川端康成の《実録的犯罪小説》・「散りぬるを」を中心に
  • 「 〈 ダイサンコウ 〉 ト 〈 カタリ 〉 」 ガ ヒラク 、 シンソウ ノ 〈 イミ 〉 : カワバタ ヤスナリ ノ 《 ジツロクテキ ハンザイ ショウセツ 》 ・ 「 チリヌル オ 」 オ チュウシン ニ
  • ―― 川端康成の《実録的犯罪小説》・「散りぬるを」を中心に ――

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Abstract

<p>Minoru Tanaka, the critic known for his theory of the “third term,” defines “modern fiction” as a form of writing which consists of the narrator's self-expression through story-events. In other words, the narrator works as a narrative device by which things are represented. Therefore the narrator can be neither identified with the author nor treated like some actual person. Tanaka goes so far as to say that even the readers must not be materialized because they are also one of the devices for reading texts. Basically following his idea, this paper will review the function of narration in modern fiction by reading Yasunari Kawabata's “Chirinuruwo.” As Yoshihito Kobayashi calls it a “documentary crime novel,” the story is based on the record of an actual crime. For this reason it has been often interpreted in terms of a simple binary opposition between fiction and fact. Masato Nihei argues against it, saying that it makes no sense to distinguish between narration (fiction) and quotation (fact) because any literary words, however original they seem, are quotations after all. Indeed, the author himself was fully aware of the repetitive nature of language which he had creatively struggled with all through his literary career. Nihei's brilliant insight, however, seems to leave the functional aspect of narration unexplored. Thus with the theory of the “third term” this paper will examine the concept of the narrative base in Kawabata's literary aesthetics.</p>

Journal

  • Japanese Literature

    Japanese Literature 64 (3), 14-28, 2015-03-10

    Japanese Literature Association

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