Self-Referential Narration in “Saikoro-no-nana-no-me,” or A Critique of Textbook Censorship: Escape from Infinite Binarism: Texts in the Classroom 5

Takagi Makoto

doi:10.20620/nihonbungaku.66.1_68

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Other Title

〈カタリ〉を生成する「骰子の七の目」（恩田陸）、あるいは「取り締まる」教科書批判
〈カタリ〉を生成する「骰子の七の目」(恩田陸)、あるいは「取り締まる」教科書批判 : 「二者択一」という無限ループからの脱出。〈教室〉のなかのテクスト論(5)
〈カタリ〉オセイセイスル「サイコロノナナノメ」(オンダリク)、アルイハ「トリシマル」キョウカショヒハン : 「ニシャタクイツ」トイウムゲンループカラノダッシュツ。〈キョウシツ〉ノナカノテクストロン(5)
――「二者択一」という無限ループからの脱出。〈教室〉のなかのテクスト論5――

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<p>Riku Onda's “Saikoro-no-nana-no-me” is a sort of meta-text which self-referentially exposes the deceptive nature of narration constructed on binary oppositions. In the short story several narrators discuss at a meeting to decide between two alternatives. They don't compare, measure, and examine them but merely make a choice in accordance with their unwritten “common sense.” Although a young woman criticizes their binary prejudice, the narrator “I” reveals her logic of justice to be authoritarian, biased, and hopelessly binary. But even the narrator “I” turns out to be unreliable because he is also inextricably caught in dichotomies. In this way the text makes students aware that the act of narration can be deceptive and dangerous precisely because of its intelligibility.</p>

Journal

Japanese Literature

Japanese Literature 66 (1), 68-80, 2017-01-10

Japanese Literature Association