Crossing the borders of the phenomenal world: Buddhist doctrine as a literary device in Kōda Rohan’s early works

要旨 本稿では、幸田露伴の作品と仏教との関わりを考察する。特に、『法華 経』、『般若心経』など、東アジアの大乗仏教の主な経典から、小説家 露伴はどのようなモチーフを取り入れ、それらの経典からインスピレー ションを受けて彼の初期小説にどのような女性像が描かれたのかを検討 する。更に、露伴の他の著作、エッセイなども考慮に入れつつ、『風流 佛』という小説の譬喩的解釈を示す。『風流佛』の主人公珠運の美の 探究と、その探求を妨げるかのような珠運の初恋というプロットの展 開が、著者の思想の変遷においてどのような意義を持つかを検討し、 坪内逍遥などが小説の革新を唱えていた過渡的な時期の文壇に露伴は どのような貢献を与えようとしていたかを明らかにする試みである。

This paper attempts to present the literary personality of the novelist and exegete Kōda Rohan (pseudonym of Kōda Shigeyuki, 1867–1947) in the cultural context of modernity. Behind the façade of old-style literatus, Kōda Rohan strives to seize the opportunity to reform the concept of fiction in his own way. His goal is that of proposing an alternative model of fiction that is distinctively unique in comparison to a sheer imitation of Western culture, particularly in its romantic stances. The main device he employs to pursue his goal at an early stage is a coherent and thoughtful reliance to the view of the doctrinal foundations of East-Asian philosophies as a literary theme. Rohan’s case is exemplary in that his wide reliance on (and almost constant allusions to) pivotal Buddhist concepts as literary technique offer an allegory for the new significance that its author attributes to the creative process behind writing fiction at a time of reform and change. Moreover, in his early work, Rohan’s preoccupation over presenting a view of Romanticism more coherent with his own’s cultural asset was also at stake. By means of a thorough rethinking of the broader significance of key philosophical concepts in Rohan’s early fiction, I shall present concrete examples to back up the view that the heavy reliance on Buddhist doctrine informing Rohan’s first attempts at literary creation conceals an eminently modern interpretation of the main stances of Japanese pre-modern culture, which testifies to the author’s relevance as a modern thinker.