A Study on the Criticisms of Japanese Naturalism Hasegawa Tenkei, Shimamura Hougetsu, “Art and Action”

This thesis aims to examine the criticisms of Japanese naturalism, which prompt the naturalistic movement in Japanese literature. During the 1910s, the Japanese naturalism becoming the first and large-scale literary movement in modern Japanese literary history, results from the unreserved and wholehearted support of the critics, which implies that with the depression of critical review, also comes the recession of the movement. In addition to the movement itself, two most important critics of naturalism, Hasegawa Tenkei and Shimamura Hougetsu, will be discussed in this thesis.
First I begin with two perspectives, Self-Fiction and pre-naturalism, as the basis of following chapters concerning the criticism of naturalism. In chapter two, I analyze the discourse about “criticism” around 1910s and, the intellectual characteristics, rather than artistic ones, of this movement. A detailed review is provided, of previous research on criticism of naturalism .In chapter three, with the focus on the two critics, Hasegawa Tenkei and Shimamura Hougetsu, I introduce their experiences before they become advocates of naturalism, and discuss the influence on Tenkei and Hougetsu, exerted by the publication of Hakai, a fiction written by Shimazaki Touson.
In chapter four, in the light of the keywords “Art and Action”, I examine the timing of this issue, and argue the inevitability of the internal logic of Tenkei and Hougetsu. I also present the view of Iwano Houmei, who holds opposite opinion against them. On the other hand, I attempt to scrutinize the external influence from society through following perspectives, the ban on the fiction “Tokai”, the “Debakame” event, and the suspicion of the phrase “Can Bungei (literature and art) be a lifetime career for a man to devote himself to?”, a phrase traditionally epitomized by Futabatei Shimei (though the claim is still in dispute.)
In the final part of the thesis, I emphasize the multi-layered meaning of the question “art and action” in the Japanese naturalism criticism, and evaluate the significance of Japanese naturalism.