The Literary Theory of Shimamura Hogetsu 1871-1918 and the Development of Feminist Discourse in Modern Japan

This title argues for a reassessment of Hogetsu's naturalism as a multifaceted theoretical model rather than an aberration of its original Western counterpart.Shimamura Hogetsu (1871-1918) was one of the most intriguing and pivotal literary figures of modern Japan. He was deeply involved in literary criticism, the study of aesthetics and rhetoric, and the presentation of Western drama to the Japanese public. This book investigates his scholarly contributions, providing unequivocal evidence of his centrality to modern Japanese literary and intellectual history.This work explores the debate that characterized the evolution of modern literary language in Japan, describing Hogetsu's key role in the acceptance of the vernacular in the process of literary signification. It fills a vacuum in Japanese literary history not only because it elucidates the multifaceted character of Japanese naturalism, but also because it explores, through the magnifying glass of a single critic's perspective, the complex and varied process of Japan's modernization as it unfolded in linguistic, literary, dramatic and feminist discourse.