『モダンTOKIO円舞曲』に見られる1930年、東京 –浅草・銀座・丸の内の表象を中心に–

Abstract

In this article, I studied the representation of urban space in “MODERN TOKIO RONDO” which is considered as the first anthology focusing on urban space in modern Japanese literature. “MODERN TOKIO RONDO”, published in Syunyodo in May, 1930, contains 12 representative Japanese modernism novels such as Yasunari Kawabata’s “The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa” and Tatsuo Hori’s “Aquarium”, themed Tokyo in 1930s. Whereas each of the novels has been studied as an individual work, the studies on “MODERN TOKIO RONDO” as a single anthology have been scanty. Based on that point, I analyzed “MODERN TOKIO RONDO” as a single organic text and derived the cognition of a modern city, Tokyo and its meaning shared by modernism writers at that time from the representation of Tokyo in the anthology. “MODERN TOKIO RONDO”, published in 1930 when “the renaissance festival of the imperial capital” was held, is the first volume of “Worldwide Metropolitan Jazz Literature” (all 15 volumes) themed the metropolises of the world. This project not only promoted the revival of Tokyo destroyed by the great Kanto Earthquake but also tried to place Tokyo in the same position as global metropolises. In “MODERN TOKIO RONDO” seemingly praising revived Tokyo, however, there are apolaustic urbiculture and criticism of machine and city civilization at the same time. And the change of the cultural center in 1930s from Asakusa to Ginza․Shinjuku in Tokyo in “MODERN TOKIO RONDO” suggests that people had changed from passive enjoyers “just watching” to active doer “experiencing”. Moreover, the anthology offers some approach to revaluate Marunouchi that has been mentioned just as the center of business until now as the center of Tokyo in 1930s.