『금수회의록』의 저본 『금수회의인류공격』에 관한 일고찰

Abstract

This paper details the career and ideas of Satō Kuratarō 佐藤蔵太郞,the author of Kinjūkaigi Jinruikōgeki 禽獸會議人類攻擊 (The Animals’Meeting for Attack on Human Beings, 1904), the source text on which Kŭmsu Hoeŭirok 禽獸會議錄 (The Animals’ Congress, 1908) is based. This paper also examines the features of Kinjūkaigi Jinruikōgeki by comparing it with Jinruikōgeki Kinjūkokkai 人類攻擊禽獸國會 (The Animals’ Congress for Attack on Human Beings, 1885). Kinjūkaigi Jinruikōgeki is very similar to Jinruikōgeki Kinjūkokkai;they share the same plot of “having a dream―listening to the animals’speech―waking from a dream.” However, more animals and various chapters exist in the former novel. Several animals such as lions,orangutans, and octopuses are excluded from Kinjūkaigi Jinruikōgeki because of religious reasons and rhetorical uselessness. Kinjūkaigi Jinruikōgeki has many Confucian and Taoist overtones, whereas Jinruikōgeki Kinjūkokkai has Buddhist ones. Kinjūkaigi Jinruikōgeki appears to be a kind of seiji shōsetsu 政治小說 (political novel) that, like Jinruikōgeki Kinjūkokkai, indirectly expresses political criticism, although the Congress does not appear in the former novel. It can be said that the publication of Kŭmsu Hoeuirok was possible despite the strong censorship amid Japanese imperialism, because Jinruikogeki Kinjukokkai seemed to be almost an anachronism. Kinjukaigi Jinruikogeki also provides examples of intertextual writing, as it cites many expressions from various references to the East and West. This intertextuality might be the result of Sat. Kurataro's colorful academic background and collection of useful literary works.