시마자키 도손의 『미풍(微風)』론 - 새로운 변화의 시작 -

Abstract

This article aims to revalue Shimazaki Tŏson's "Breeze" which has not drawn public attention even though it was written in the crucial moment of his private life as well as his literary life.It was written just before he fled to France due to the extramarital relation with his niece.He had made efforts to change his literary tendency from his previous work, "After Meals", but he was not able to break out of his literary style."Breeze", however, shows a new transformation in his strong willingness to change. In this article, I analyzed the new change shown in "Breeze" in two different ways. Firstly, "Wordless Person" shows the transition from persistent ties with Huyuko to Gomako for the first time. This signifies that "Breeze" played a huge role during the period of upheaval towards his later literary works such as "The Family" and "New Life". Secondly, although, at first, he tried to describe his acquainted women in his boyhood in "Childhood", he gave more attention to his reminiscence instead.This enabled him to see his literary potential regarding his 'boyhood' and this change continued to his latter years. In general, when assessing Tŏson's literature, the three-year stay in France is considered as the turning point of his literature.However, as mentioned above, we are able to see deeply the time of huge changes in his life through "Breeze" and, also, the characteristics of his later literature are manifested in it. In short, "Breeze" proves the new change had already begun before his stay in France.Though "Breeze" has been overshadowed by his biggest scandal in life, 'Flee to France(1913)', and his diverse literary changes after his return to Japan, the real turing point of Tŏson's literature is "Breeze".