나카무라 마사나오의 『西國立志編』 서문에 나타난 보편성 논의

Abstract

Saigokurisshihen, the first Japanese translation of Samuel Smiles' (1812-1904) Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character, Conduct and Perseverance (1859), was one of the bestselling books throughout the Meiji and early twentieth-century periods. The book's first edition sold more than 100,000 copies, and over a million copies of the work were sold in total. The book not only made a huge impact on Japanese readers, but also played a significant part in providing knowledge of Western civilization to Korean intellectuals. Much of the previous research on Saigokurisshihen focused on the fact that Nakamura Masanao (1832-1891) translated Self-Help. However, this paper approached the work from a different angle. Although the book is a translation, Nakamura made bold edits to the original work and infused it with Confucian logic and vocabulary. Therefore, it is difficult to capture the essence of Saigokurisshihen by regarding it as a simple translation in the modern sense of the word. Instead, this paper attempted to highlight its characteristics as a product of Nakamura's own thinking. To this end, the study focused on the introductions written by Nakamura and explained his intention in introducing Self-Help to Japanese readers. By concentrating on the analysis of its introductions, one can grasp the motivations and ideas behind Nakamura's work. Moreover, as these introductions worked as guidelines not only to the book itself, but also to the Western civilization of the time, this paper tries to describe the most influential attitudes toward the West in Modern Japan.