아쿠타가와 류노스케의 『서방의 사람』과 동료작가들 - 소통의 단절과 인정투쟁 -

Abstract

Akutagawa Ryunosuke's Saihonohito (The Westerner) is a work which served as his suicide note,comparing himself to Jesus in his desperate situation. This study on Saihonohito is focused onrelationships with Akutakawa's colleagues in the literary world dominated by naturalism. His six fellowwriters, Sato Haruo (佐藤春夫), Masamune Hakucho (正宗白鳥), Tanizaki Junichiro (谷崎潤一郞), KikuchiKan (菊池寬), Hagiwara Sakutaro (萩原朔太郞) and Gume Masao(久米正雄) were the closest friends but,at the same time, the biggist opponents of his argument for literature. Through their relationships, wecan identify a communication gap and Akutakawa's lonely struggle for recognition of his works. AsAkutakawa wrote 「There are no freinds」(34 Christ's friends), and 「Even Peter didn't understand him」(28 Jerusalem) in Saihonohito, he had no friends. It just shows the collective ignorance in the literaryworld, as Jesus' truth was ignored at that time. Besides, as Akutakawa wrote 「Because they knew thefear of life better than Christ, they merely couldn't accept the word of genius」(14 the son of the HolyGhost), his colleagues disregarded his words and works. Despite all his efforts to be understood, thecommunication gap and loneliness drove him to take his own life. Moreover, the distorted criticism on hisworks is not just a matter of the past. It has established itself as a mainstream to this day. Therefore,Akutakawa's literature is still struggling for the truth.