Fragmental Bodies, Words and Texts in Lafcadio Hearn's Literary World

概要

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One of the most obvious features of Lafcadio Hearn's works, yet which has never been fully studied, is the fact that expressions related to bodies, especially bodies in fragment, are frequently seen throughout his work. The aim of this paper is, to begin with, to analyse Hearn's texts, from one of his earliest works from his American days to later works written in Japan, deliberating the significance of body fragments in his texts by using key words, to sever and to attach or to group, then to identify Hearn's works in the general trend of late 19^<th> and early 20^<th> century art. Since his writing career began with the translation of French literature, chapter 1 will investigate how his tendency concerning body expressions is shown in his earliest translation, "Clarimonde". Then chapter 2 will illustrate how his fetish for expressions relating to bodies was developed in his later work, "Ingwa-Banashi." Chapter 3 will contemplate the dispute between Hearn and B. H. Chamberlain concerning English texts including Japanese words in the Roman alphabet. This deliberation suggests that the fetish for body fragments could be considered in broader perspectives.