「冬と手紙と」論‒芥川晩年の修辞的技法に関する考察‒

Abstract

This paper examines expressive techniques and rhetorical problems in Akutagawa’s later years based on “With Winter and Letters” (first published in Chuo Koron, July 1927). “The Winter” is constructed in a triple-layer manner, following the convention of “the speaker nonchalantly talks about his nonchalantly talking about him nonchalantly talking.” The short story takes on a self-enclosed structure in which only a similar speaker appears, no matter which speaker is extracted at a given time axis. This structure results in a story that lacks drama. On the other hand, “The Letter,” which is juxtaposed with “The Winter,” only conveys events in fragments through the use of monologues of “the speaker” and metaphorical rhetoric. This structure also results in suppressing the drama within the short story. Instead, the short story is structured in such a way that the mental state of “the speaker” is primarily foregrounded through such methods as the modification of episodes. Based on this analysis, what is common to both “The Winter” and “The Letter” is (1) a creative technique that does not dramatize events, and (2) a rhetorical technique that foregrounds the character’s mental state. This also intersects with issues such as “a novel without a ‘story’ resembling a plot,” which appeared in Akutagawa’s later years.