earticle

영어

Akutagawa Ryunosuke‘s historical perception and social criticism, having insight into long history of human, appear in his works generally. Among his works, historical perception is most prominent in following 6 types of writing. 1.Fairy tale form: 『The War of Monkey and Crab(猿蟹合戦)』(1923.3), 『Momotaro(桃太郎)』(1924.7), 2.Works on historical events: 『The General(将軍)』(1922.3), 『The General Kim(金将軍)』(1924.2), 3.Travelogues on China: 『A report on the journey of China(支那遊記)』(1925.11), 4.Essays about the Great Kanto Earthquake: 『Miscellaneous notes on the Great Kanto Earthquake(大震雜記)』(1923.10) and the like, 5.literature of the absurd: 『The Story of a Head That Fell Off(首が落ちた話)』(1918.1), 『Horse Legs(馬の脚)』(1925.1), 6.General social criticism through metaphor: 『Kappa(河童)』(1927.3),『The Man of the West(西方の人)』(1927.8). Except travelogues on China, most works consist of figurative language such as metaphor, symbol and allegory. This was condensed form that could show the truth accurately and intelligibly to readers and also was indirect form to avoid censorship of controlled media at that time. In this way, these works were not only anti war novels but also they criticized the plunder of imperialism and fabrication or concealment of order speech. It requires, like Gulliver‘s Telescope, deep historical insight and understanding of his figurative language in interpretation and criticism on these works. Also, on account of their art pursuing universal truth acknowledged to everyone, it should not commit dichotomous logic of self-or-others and right-or-wrong fallacy presupposing interests own nation. His historical perception and social criticism which is penetrating human history, in spite of endless repetition of war history, were positive, toward universal truth of humanism transcending races and nations.