초록 열기/닫기 버튼

The purpose of this study is to extract the motif of confession, which is a key expression device of culturalism, through a genealogical consideration of the formation of culturalism, and through this, to examine the effect of the motif of confession in modern Japanese novels. To this end, this study first examined the landscape of Taisho Culturalism in which only male intellectuals existed through the forum of male intellectuals connected to Iwanami Bookstore. Then, this paper illuminated through text analysis that Taisho Culturalism was based on the exchange and sense of sympathy among male intellectuals. The young intellectuals of culture had the common theme of agony and trials of youth, which contributed to forming a system that was shared by them through the device of confessional writing. This is in accord with modern Japanese literature that secured its modernity by means of confession of the inner world. In other words, the ‘crystallization of thoughts and experiences full of anguish’ that cultured bibles aimed at was also the aim of the bells lettres at that time.