요시모토 다카아키(吉本隆明)『공동환상론』으로 조망한 아리시마 다케오(有島武郎) 의「한 여자(或る女)」

Abstract

The present study i) adopts the three concepts of pair-illusion, individual illusion and communal illusion that Takaaki Yoshimoto (1924–2012) proposed in Theory of Communal Illusion (1968) as the overarching framework for analyzing individual characters; ii) applies Yoshimoto’s argument that communal illusion conflicts with both individual illusion and pair-illusion to the characters of A Certain Woman; (1919) and thus, iii) attempts to identify the genderness and universality of A Certain Woman from a new perspective. This paper, first, investigates why the “pair-illusion” of Yoko, the main character, becomes greedy and evil-minded; and finds out that her hatred towards men (a hatred that the author transplanted), Yoko’s mistrusting nature and her alienated desire were the main causes. In other words, she became as such because she wanted compensation for her alienated “individual illusion” and “pair-illusion”. In summary, Yoko was forced to choose between “pair-illusion” and “individual illusion”; and her “individual illusion” conflicted with her “communal illusion”. For the male character, on the other hand, his “individual illusion” and “communal illusion” did not conflict each other. Despite Yoshimoto’s constant argument, there existed an odd gender difference between men and women. From Sōseki in the Meiji period (明治時代, 1868-1912), Arishima in the Taisho period (大正時代, 1912-1926) to Yoshimoto in the Shōwa period (昭和時代, 1926-1989), the notion of gender, which deemed “pair-illusion” as the root of women and “individual illusion” as the root of men, seems to have established itself as one that almost encompasses “communal illusion”. Due to the aforementioned reasons, Yoko's pair-illusion shows signs of decadence. However, in the end, she realizes her error by herself. Thus, the purity and the significance of “pair-illusion” itself can be said to have been kept intact.