｢羅生門｣瞥見

日本の近代文学がほぼ形を整えた大正初期､芥川龍之介は『今昔物語』の話をもとにした一連の王朝ものによって文壇に駆け上がった｡近代とは対峠する昔の話を題材にすること自体､意表をつく新しさがあっただろう｡それを近代小説に仕立て上げるために､彼は心理描写とテーマをそこに付け加える｡｢羅生門｣の元の話の筋をほとんどそのまま借りながら､話が展開するそれぞれの箇所に登場人物の心理を鮮やかな手際で織り込む｡また従来言われてきたように人間のエゴイズムをテーマとすると捉えれば､いかにも近代にふさわしくはあっても近代を超えるものではない｡善悪の相対性､理性の不確定性をテーマと考えるならば､ポストモダンの小説として読む可能性も開ける｡芥川と異なる文学潮流にあった泉鏡花の｢高野聖｣は心理描写もなくテーマも捉えがたく､非合理的な内容､古風な文体とともにいかにも前近代の作品であって｢羅生門｣の対極に位置する｡しかし文学としては今も決して色槌せてはいない｡近代的ならざることによってかえって近代を超えているのである｡屍体の髪を抜く老婆､老婆の服を剥ぎ取る下人､一一自己の生存のために他人の身体を奪うというこの悪の連鎖を推し進めていけば､究極は死者の肉を食らうということに行き着く｡それを描いた大岡昇平の｢野火｣では神､ないし神というかたちで露出した深層の倫理観が食入肉を押しとどめる｡｢羅生門｣にせよ｢野火｣にせよ極限状況に置かれた人間の迷いと決断を描くのだが､武田泰淳｢ひかりごけ｣は食入肉を法の立場から裁こうとする人々に対して批判を向ける｡生きるために他人の身体を奪うという行為が､より広い場で問い詰められるのである｡

關鍵字

｢羅生門｣；｢高野聖｣；｢野火｣；｢ひかりごけ｣；善悪

並列摘要

Modern Japanese Literature roughly took form in the early Taisho Era. Using ”Tales of Old” as the basis for his dynasty series, Akutagawa Ryunosuke quickly rose up in the literary world. Taking old stories, which stood face to face with modern times, as material had to have been both quite unexpected and novel at the time. He incorporates psychological descriptions and themes into the stories, making them modern. With Rashomon borrowing the heart of the original story as is, Akutagawa uses magnificent technique to interweave the character's state of mind into the unfolding of the story. Moreover, up until now, viewed as having a theme of human egoism, Rashomon was quite fitting for its modern era, but that is not to say it was ahead of its time. However, when thought to have the themes of the relativity of good and evil and the uncertainty of reason, it could then be read as a postmodern novel.Izumi Kyoka's Koya Hijiri, following a different literary school from Akutagawa, has neither psychological descriptions nor easily identifiable themes. In direct opposition to Rashomon, irrational content together with and old-fashioned style indeed place it as a pre-modern piece. However, even now as a work of literature, it has not faded in the least. In fact, by not being modern, it is rather ahead of the modern time.Just as the old woman pulled hair from a corpse, the servant stripped the old woman of her clothes. This evil cycle of claiming someone's body in order to survive, if taken to a further extreme, ultimately leads to the eating of a dead humans' flesh. In Shohei Ooka's Nobi, which depicted just that, God, or the exposed depths of one's ethical values taking the form of God, prevents one from eating human flesh. While both Rashomon and Nobi depict the doubts and decisions of people pushed to the limit, Takeda Taijun's Hikari Goke directs criticism towards those trying to judge cannibalism from a legal standpoint. Thus, the act stealing another's body to survive can be questioned more closely on an even broader stage.