文学部Faculty of Letters

Reading Meiji Literature: Stories of People Who Lose Their Place
There are various approaches to literature, but in this class, we would like to think about the possibilities of literary works today in terms of their imagination and criticality.
Today, in the 21st century, many people may think of Meiji literature as a classic, as 100 years have passed. If we think of the suffering of the Meiji people as the problem of how to adapt to a new era in the midst of being at the mercy of the old feudal era and the new Western civilization, it certainly seems like an old problem that had been resolved. However, if we change our perspective and consider that the problem was how to live at the mercy of the newly established modern capitalist state system, it doesn’t seem to be an old story for us today, as the old order collapses and individual dignity is being taken away in the face of the runaway capitalism of “neoliberalism.”
Then, why do we choose “their place” as a theme? “Their place” does not just mean a place to live. We do not live as individuals; we need a place where our existence is acknowledged and where our daily routine can be repeated permanently. We live in a variety of relationships symbolized by the word “place.” However, the modern state and capital have deprived people who are “useless” or have no value of “their place” and have ruthlessly eliminated them. We live in a society where humans are constantly in flux, and it is extremely difficult to have our place to belong, which is the foundation of humanity. Our inability to feel happiness even though we have enough food and clothing is largely due to the structure of modern society.
However, if you read literary works, you will find that this kind of experience already began in the Meiji era. It can be said that the people of the Meiji era were the ones who searched for the human condition in a new era that suddenly appeared, relying only on the imagination of stories, without any theory. In this class, we would like to reread representative works of the Meiji era such as “Ukigumo,” “Zyusanya,” “Botchan,” and “Maihime” from the perspective of “stories of people who lose their place,” and use them as mirrors to illuminate our current situation.

Work to be done outside of class (preparation, etc.)
Please be sure to read the work before coming to class. All of these works are easily available in paperback, so please take a look at their surrounding works as well. It would also be a good idea to study the historical context of the works we will be discussing this time and have a rough idea of the Meiji period. The standard preparation and review time for this class is two hours each.

Grading criteria
・Normal score = impressions about each work, class comments, etc. (50%)
　Attitude toward the lesson (are you reading the work thoroughly, are you trying to understand the lesson, etc.)
・Final exam (50%)
A test of understanding of the lesson.

日本語 / Japanese