1916: A year in the life of Akutagawa Ryunosuke

The dissertation is a biographical study of the Japanese writer Akutagawa Ryunosuke (1892-1927), focusing on the period from December 1915 to December 1916. In December 1915 Akutagawa was virtually unknown, by December 1916 he was the talk of the bundan (the Japanese literati). His rapid ascent was due in large part to his association with the eminent Japanese novelist, Natsume Soseki. Soseki's early recognition of his talent defined Akutagawa's public image and it was the period during which they were associated--from December 1915 until Soseki's death exactly one year later--that defined Akutagawa's sense of himself. The dissertation discusses Akutagawa's family, education, friendships, and sexuality; his association with the magazine Shinshicho; his emergence as a literary figure; his relationship with Soseki; his marriage; his rise to fame, and his fall, with the events of 1916 as benchmarks in the biographical narrative. The factionalism of the Taisho-period bundan, especially the rivalry between the Naturalists, Shirakaba and Shinshicho groups, are detailed in terms of Akutagawa's controversial rise. His appropriation of the Japanese folktale in his exploration of a personal mythology is presented through critical discussion of the early stories. The later autobiographical stories illustrate his self-exploration in terms of the tension between the private self he lost in 1916 and the public self he then invented.