Shigeharu Nakano

Transcription

There're three reasons why I open this course in the College of Liberal Arts at NTU First, it's for studying Taiwanese literature There're three languages in Taiwanese literature: aboriginal languages, Chinese, and Japanese Of course, there're large differences within each language It's just an oversimplification However, to understand Taiwanese literature as a whole it's necessary to learn these languages So, it's the reason why I open courses on Chinese literature and Japanese literature in the College of Liberal Arts Second, it's for learning Japanese modernization from Japanese colonial literature of Taiwan and modern Japanese literature I hope students can learn more about the modernization of Japanese imperialism before its subsequent descent into colonialism i.e. the history of militarism I also hope that students can understand how modern Japanese literature's related to a nation state's birth In this course, I'll start with Yang Kui, Zhou Jinbo, and Zhang Hezhou They're writers in Taiwan under the rule of Japan We'll learn from synchronic and diachronic studies Then, we'll look at modern Japanese writers For example, I'll talk about Sato Haruo's works to show that Japan's romanticism must require an exotic or colonial imagination Next, we'll look at Kenji Miyazawa's works to explore modern Japan's pursuit of idealism and danger of essentialism Third, we'll look at Toson Shimazaki's works to explore family problems in modern Japan Fourth, we'll look at Soseki Natsume's works to explore modern Japanese's self-concept and psychological problems Fifth, we'll look at Shigeharu Nakano's works to explore Japanese proletarian literature and the colonial imagination Finally, we'll look at Osamu Dazai's works to explore the "post-war" concept and post-war literature There's also a personal reason The Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature invited me to lecture on Taiwanese literature and Japanese literature for the College of Liberal Arts I'm not an expert in Japanese literature so, I have to link it with Taiwanese literature Therefore, for these three reasons I'll focus on Japanese language literature in my courses for the College of Liberal Arts Japanese language literature's related to literary framework and language issues To begin with literary framework I want to deconstruct the existing literary framework It's generally believed that the literary framework is formed by each country's modernization and the nation state's birth So in the cultural context or within the education system the framework's defined, fixed, and popularized through the concept of a nation The existing political thought and cultural dilemma have entered a dead end so we need to reflect on past boundaries and limitations to transcend this dilemma and looking to the future As a literature researcher I strongly believe that it's necessary to extract literature from nationalism to free it from the ideological shackles of nationalism to study its historical, social, and cultural context so each context can be a viable framework for literary studies For example Chinese literature and Japanese literature are both framed by the concept of the nation and the myth If literature is framed in this way it usually ends up with nationalism So, I have to deconstruct the existing literary framework and create a new framework through the language to freely discuss these works Also, it's related to mother tongue writing for languages are keys to reconstruct new literary frameworks Literature is all about the art of languages Writers express their inner thoughts and strong feelings with their works So, it's necessary to consider writers' own languages i. e. mother tongue writings It's also the issue that I concern the most at present And third I try to narrow down the concept of Japanese literature and also deconstruct it From the 19th c., Japanese literature has been placed in the framework of national literature leaving no space for Japanese language literature in colonial times and the multiculturalism in 21st c. Therefore, I believe that to think about literature in a larger framework we must narrow down the concept of Japanese literature and regard Japanese literature as a part of Japanese language literature to analyze works and writers in colonial times To put it more simply we have to free Japanese language literature from the shackles of the nation concept It's why I teach Japanese language literature If you just want to appreciate literature it's not necessary to study it at university You can appreciate it in your free time However, if you want to interpret it you must express your inner speech through external speech In other words, you have to learn a methodology for externalizing your inner speech It's what you have to learn in class For example when learning literary theories or literary studies we have to learn external speech first and then we can express our inner speech through external speech It's like painting a self-portrait You can't paint your self-image without sensing others' gazes So, when you interpret a work you must externalize your inner speech The externalization requires to learn the language used by others It's what you should learn in class As for the class advice first, I hope students can understand that literature can expand your inner world and enrich your inner speech Those who don't read literature will always live in a small world They have no way of knowing how big, interesting, painful, and pleasant the world is Reading literature can definitely widen your spiritual world In any society, literature is the most subtle and profound culture first shown in oral literature later written literature And second through studying Japanese language literature I hope that students can learn not only modern Japanese literature but also its history and society Last, I hope that students can learn the internal logic of Japanese culture