| In “modern literary” world of Japan（Here，the word “modern” doesn’t refer in particularto the history after Meijirshin but is a broad concept）, the historical novelists appearedrepeatedly, many of whom are great masters, such as Mori Ogai, Akutagawa Ryunosuke,Yoshikawa Eiji, Inoue Yasushi, Takeda Taijun, Shiba Ryotaro, Chen Shunchen, etc. Althoughin “literature history of Japan”, sometimes, their historical novels haven’t been given closeattention that they deserved, the influence that they had on Japanese actual culture lifeshouldn’t be despised. Moreover, many historical novels of Japan have drawn from the oldscriptures or legends of China due to the special relationship of Japanese culture with Chineseculture, to which we can not but pay close attention. In real life, they have attracted a greatdeal of readers, producing a great response. Given this, it is quite necessary to follow thehistorical novels in “modern” Japan closely by regarding them as an important kind ofcultural phenomenon.The “historical novel” is a kind of literary style, and thus doesn’t correspond directly to“history”. Enslaved to specific times and circumstances, it talks about “the present” by meansof “history” and is a writer’s “artistic display” of his world point of view, aesthetic standard,wisdom and so on. The historical novel writes about “history” and talks about “history”,which is actually a kind of construction but means to compete for the right to speak. Whilereading, the readers also played a role in the construction. As for the history and charactersdescribed in the novels, different Japanese readers and Chinese readers share different viewpoints and have different opinions. In this respect, in this dissertation, the author will probeinto the historical novelists’ display “mechanism” and what it induced the people to construct,that is to say what the writers were writing, how they wrote and why they wrote in such away.In recent several decades, the historical novels of Shiba Ryotaro have been highlyfavored by the Japanese readers, and at the same time have gained close attention from thecritics and the researchers. Lately, Saka no ue no kumo became the focus of attention onceagain. Focusing on the phenomenon above, in this dissertation, the author will regard ShibaRyotaro’s Complete Works and Shiba Ryotaro’s Short Complete Works as the studyingobjects, take the writer’s essays, comments, talks, speeches and the like as the references atthe same time and base on the text to read it intensively in the hope of interpreting hishistorical novels more comprehensively and thoroughly. Shiba Ryotaro’s historical novels arelike complex multi-voice, so we can’t reach a conclusion arbitrarily with the method oflabeling simply, but we must grasp them dynamically from many aspects with comparison. Needless to say, Shiba Ryotaro’s historical novels have a main theme. In this dissertation,the author found out that nationalism is the main theme. With the nationalism as the startingpoint, the author analyzed the text thoroughly to research the change course of nationalism,his techniques of expression as well as the social meaning. As for the research points, thedissertation was set up on demonstration and in Shiba Ryotaro’s background of living, theauthor made a comprehensive and full-scale study of his nationalism in an intercultural andinterdisciplinary way according to the firsthand information and on the basis of “historicalfacts”(The historical facts are relatively objective, though they are controlled by peoplesomehow.) instead of sticking to a certain research method. The research on Shiba Ryotaro’shistorical novels can help to deepen the understanding of Japanese culture and boost thefriendly talk and communication between Chinese people and Japanese people, and then tobuild harmonious East Asia or even the world. This study found that:(1) Historical narration is the way to construct national identity. In describing theJapanese history, Shiba Ryotaro took the historical figures as the center and told the stories inthe background of a historic period to reveal what is Japan and what are Japanese. Heembedded the concept of “nation” in the mind of the characters in the novel to express thenationalist ideology through glorifying Japanese history and narrating the excellence of theJapanese nation.(2) In Shiba Ryotaro’s historical novels, the nationalist ideology experienced a course ofchanging from emergence, formation, development to relative weakening. They were mainlyreflected in the theme, the subject, the techniques of expression, the influence and so on. Indetail, the nationalist ideology didn’t appear in his early works, but made its first appearancein Ryoma ga Yuku. In this novel, to glorify the Japanese restoration history, Shiba Ryotaroexaggerated Sakamoto Ryouma through his separating from the puppet states, his historicfeats and sayings, in which way he was heroized. In Saka no ue no kumo, Shiba Ryotaroliteralized history to defend Jiawu Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War which werestarted by Japan and sing the praises of the so-called national war as well as eulogizing Japanin Meiji period from other aspects. This novel which prettified and glorified Japan’s history inMeiji period conveyed the writer’s basic understanding of history and indicated the nationalistideology took shape finally. By the writer’s narrating and eulogizing the particularities ofJapan’s ancient history, the novel Kukai no fukei conveyed a kind of cultural nationalism,thereby, the nationalist ideology was developed. In the novel Dattan shippuroku, whiledescribing the history of Japan, Korea and China, Shiba Ryotaro didn’t glorify Japanesehistory straight, but his praise for the national rise of the Manchu by force implied that heapproved of the militarists’ invasion of other countries in modern Japan. The idea that force istop priority indicates the nationalist ideology of Shiba Ryotaro is extreme.(3) The nationalist ideology in Shiba Ryotaro’s historical novels connected closely to Japanese society after World War two. The nationalist ideology is a kind of ethos in Japanafter World War two. The reasons why Shiba Ryotaro wrote historical novels to express thenationalist ideology were firstly that he had a favorable impression on Japan before ShowaEra and after World War two, and secondly that he wanted to seek selling market for hisworks by catering to, or rather, trying to guide the spiritual demand of the common people ofJapan. In addition, the changes of the nationalist ideology that Shiba Ryotaro wanted toexpress were closely related to Japan’s economic development at that time. So, in his novelswe can see the social situation in Japan of the period. This kind of nationalist ideology took anactive part in Japan’s spiritual reconstruction and the construction of national identity after thewar. But it didn’t admit the invasion of Japan in Jiawu Sino-Japanese War andRusso-Japanese War, which hurt the victims. Therefore, the stand point of Shiba Ryotaroshould be criticized. The Chinese readers can’t neglect it and will remember it clearly.(4) In Shiba Ryotaro’s historical novels, it is full of characteristics as formaterial-selecting and techniques of writing. In material-selecting, he depicted the life of thehistorical figures that could bring self-confidence for the readers. Based upon the people’sconception of history in Japan after World War two, Shiba Ryotaro characterized SakamotoRyouma, Omura Masujiro, Kukai and so on as the historical figures that were born in theordinary families or places, but through striving finally became the leading role in thegovernment. The readers were encouraged by the life stories of the main characters to seekafter their own dreams and realize their own values of life. Just because of this, ShibaRyotaro’s novels have won many readers’ high favor. In techniques of writing, in his historicalnovels, Shiba Ryotaro arranged the chapters neatly. Every chapter can satisfy the readers onthe whole. So they don’t have to be so urgent that they can finish reading a historical novel ina long period of time. While describing the Japanese history from the past to the present,Shiba Ryotaro criticized and explained history on the basis of Japanese common knowledgeof history, which influenced the readers’ understanding and thought imperceptibly. |
PDF Full Text Request