"Mono No Aware" As A Specific Aesthetic Category

"Mono no aware" was first discovered by Japanese scholar Motoori Norinaga(1730-1801)as the core concept of his literary theory in the middle of 18th century.As a specific Japanese aesthetic concept which derived from the Japanese monogatari and waka,and developed by the spiritual and cultural characteristics of the Heian era,"Mono no aware" is not only related to the creation and appreciation of literature,but also to the human life everywhere.Meanwhile,Norinaga's "Mono no aware" theory made a presupposition of human emotions and focused on human feelings,which gives us an opportunity to make an aesthetic study of "Mono no aware".This paper,centering on the "Mono no aware" theory of the Motoori Norinaga,will start from researching the cultural and academic context Norinaga was in,then by tracing the philological and literary aspect of his "Mono no aware" theory,explore the possibility of "Mono no aware" to be discussed as an aesthetic category.This paper is mainly divided into 4 chapters.The first chapter is Motoori Norinaga and His "Mono no aware" theory.It introduces Norinaga's life,the cultural context and environment of Edo period,and the main works of his literary study,especially on "Mono no aware" theory.The second chapter is a philological research about "Aware" and "Mono no aware".It introduces the context of Japanese language and characters and Norinaga's Philological Method,analyzes Norinaga's A Plea of Aware and gives some other resources of "Aware" and "Mono no aware",and then refers to the translating problem.The third chapter is "Mono no aware" theory as literary theory.It examines Norinaga's four main works on "Mono no aware" literary theory and concludes his ideas of "Mono no aware" on literature.The fourth chapter is "Mono no aware" as aesthetic category and the aesthetic activity of "Knowing about Mono no aware".It starts by checking the concept of Aware,then makes a research of Aware and Mono no aware from aesthetic perspective.