W. G. アストンの日本古典文学理解 ー『日本文学史』を中心にー

Abstract

W. G. Aston, a British diplomat and one of the three Japanese scholars of the Meiji period, published A History of Japanese Literature in England in 1899. This paper is a review of Aston's assessment of Japanese classical literature through A History of Japanese Literature. As for Aston's A History of Japanese Literature, there is a positive assessment that "-Aston's A History of Japanese Literature has contributed greatly to making Genji Monogatari representative of "Japanese Literature." (Suzuki Sadami) Aston, however, made it clear that he did not have an opinion praising Japanese literature in response to the editor's request to write a history of Japanese literature.　In this paper, Aston's views on Manyoshu and Genji Monogatari were examined mainly among Aston's A History of Japanese Literature. Aston always compared to European literature and commented on Japanese literature. Although Japanese poetry has a low overall evaluation, Manyoshu followed the norms of writing and spoke sophisticated language, which was delicately expressed in emotion, which was considered superior to that of the later poetry. Regarding Genji Monogatari, it is said that it consists of excellent sentences that greatly drew the charm of the Japanese and story development compared to other countries in the same era. However, as Suzuki Sadami said, it was not possible to confirm that Manyoshu and Genji Monogatari were highly praised. Shibano's first translation of Aston's A History of Japanese Literature and Suzuki's translation seem to be attributed to a more positive nuance than the original, but the result is a widespread perception in Japan that Aston praised Genji Monogatari.