초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Akutagawa Ryunosuke is a Japanese writer active in Taishō period, and is also regarded as the “Father of Japanese short story”. In this thesis, the analysis of his latter work ‘Kappa’ is established on descriptive level and linguistic voices within the narrative. The expressions found in the text were read closely and their meanings are then explored through a relative lens in view of the narrator and the overall perspective. The novel consists of 18 chapters, including the preface. The frame of the story is constructed from the first-person account of a madman as transcribed by the narrator. The story the man tells is about his own experience of being in the world of Kappa (Kappa is an animal from an old Japanese folklore). The narrator however conveyed the entire text in his own writing. Accordingly, there are two stories as both narrators co-exist to represent narrative levels in their respective accounts. The use of parenthetical expressions is prominent. However its usage appears seemingly irregular and disordered as the narrator of the entire text sporadically comes out within the madman's account of experience and the voices are mingled. By paying close attention to the use of these parentheses, each meaning is distinguished and analyzed. As a conclusion, the uneasiness and melancholy founded on anxiety and conflict can be attributed to the use of parentheses at two levels of narration.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Japanese literature, folklore, narrative style, parentheses, melancholy
