芥川龍之介의 「王朝物」에 관한 硏究

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A Study on 「OUCHOUMONO」by Akutagawa Ryunosuke

-Human Selfishness Expressed in the Literary Works 『Rashomon』·『Hana』-

Kim Kyoung-mo Advisor : Prof. Hee-jo Kim Ph.D Major in Japanese Language Education Graduate School of Education, Chosun University

This study examined human selfishness expressed in two literary works 『Rashomon』and 『Hana』 out of dynasty related works written by Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

A domestic servant and an old woman appearing in 『Rashomon』have two aspects : the strong and the weak. When the servant kicked out of master's house, he showed the look of the weak on the other hand when extorting the clothes from the old woman, he showed the look of the strong. The same goes for the old woman. When the old woman was robbed of her clothes by the servant, she showed the look of the weak, on the other hand, when she pulled out hairs from corpse, she showed the look of the strong. It is impossible to draw a line clearly. In the works, it is found that relative relationships are made : the weak needs the strong to exist, and vice versa. The process that showed the change between the weak and the strong centered on the servant and the old woman raised continuous problems. Both the servant and the old woman wanted to free themselves from the present insecurity. Both of them depended on self rationalization so that they could seek safety and comfort . The conflict experienced through self realization exposed human selfishness . Naigu , a character of 『Hana』raised a question about his own identity. He was troubled with long nose but underlying cause of trouble was attributed to the fear that his sense of inferiority might be laid bare to the people around him. In order to eliminate feeling of restlessness, he attempted medical treatment. Despite satisfactory treatment, he became discouraged due to aggravated ridicule around him. Naigu was not committed to the monk's duty but obsessed with outward appearance. Therefore, Naigu came to lose his own identity by seeking identity from outward appearance. He made a blunder of losing sight of his own mission to seek identity. Naigu attempted to solve the problem he faced through 'treatment' but the method he used was based on wrong recognition for his own identity. The wrong approach used by him resulted in loss of self. Naigu who depended on self rationalization that laid a fault at another's door showed human selfishness.

By examining human selfishness through characters in Akutagawa Ryunosuke's literary works, it is found that human beings are likely to depend on self rationalization that is intended to make situation favorable to oneself when the situation faced becomes difficult to cope with the difficulty.