The first "I-Novels" are believed to be Hakai (Broken Commandment), written in 1906 by Shimazaki Toson, and Futon (Quilt) written by Tayama Katai in 1907. In Hakai, Toson described a male who was born a member of a discriminated segment of the population (burakumin), and how he decided to violate his father's commandment not to reveal his community of birth. In Futon, Tayama confessed his affection for a female pupil. From its beginnings, the "I-Novel" was a genre that exposed the dark side of society or the dark side of the author's life.
There are several general rules for the creation of an "I-Novel". The story must remain in a natural realm and must be completely realistic. The idea was to prove that language is not transparent and that a real experience can be completely portrayed with language. The formula of the protagonist must be author = protagonist = hero; therefore the author must be the protagonist of the story. The story should also express a great knowledge of literature and reference as many works as possible in relation to a character's feelings. The writing should also not be too elaborate.
Major writers included Dazai Osamu and others. Scandal by Shusaku Endo is one of the recent examples of an "I-Novel"
References
Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Irmela: Rituals of Self-Revelation: Shishosetsu as Literary Genre and Socio-Cultural Phenomenon; Harvard University Press: 1996
Fowler, Edward:The Rhetoric of Confession - Shishosetsu in Early Twentieth-Century Japanese Fiction; London: 1988
Suzuki, Tomi: Narrating the Self - Fictions of Japanese Modernity; Stanford:1996
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday March 06, 2008 at 17:19:16 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
The first "I-Novels" are believed to be Hakai (Broken Commandment), written in 1906 by Shimazaki Toson, and Futon (Quilt) written by Tayama Katai in 1907. In Hakai, Toson described a male who was born a member of a discriminated segment of the population (burakumin), and how he decided to violate his father's commandment not to reveal his community of birth. In Futon, Tayama confessed his affection for a female pupil. From its beginnings, the "I-Novel" was a genre that exposed the dark side of society or the dark side of the author's life.
There are several general rules for the creation of an "I-Novel". The story must remain in a natural realm and must be completely realistic. The idea was to prove that language is not transparent and that a real experience can be completely portrayed with language. The formula of the protagonist must be author = protagonist = hero; therefore the author must be the protagonist of the story. The story should also express a great knowledge of literature and reference as many works as possible in relation to a character's feelings. The writing should also not be too elaborate.
Major writers included Dazai Osamu and others. Scandal by Shusaku Endo is one of the recent examples of an "I-Novel"
References
Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Irmela: Rituals of Self-Revelation: Shishosetsu as Literary Genre and Socio-Cultural Phenomenon; Harvard University Press: 1996
Fowler, Edward:The Rhetoric of Confession - Shishosetsu in Early Twentieth-Century Japanese Fiction; London: 1988
Suzuki, Tomi: Narrating the Self - Fictions of Japanese Modernity; Stanford:1996
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday March 06, 2008 at 17:19:16 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
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