A Study of Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s “Spring Nights”：The Ways in which the Mystery is Understood

JIN, Xianghua

doi:2022.14.1.31

The Journal of Japanese Language Literature Studies > Volume 14(1); 2022 > Article

Article

Border Crossings: The Journal of Japanese-Language Literature Studies 2022;14(1): 31-50.
doi: https://doi.org/10.22628/bcjjl.2022.14.1.31

A Study of Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s “Spring Nights”：The Ways in which the Mystery is Understood

Xianghua JIN

Ph.D, Osaka University

芥川龍之介｢春の夜｣の一考察―― 怪異の正体を見抜いた理由とは

金香花

(中国)2022年3月大阪大学大学院·文学研究科日本文学専攻の博士号取得。日本近現代文学、芥川龍之介作品を研究。

Correspondence Xianghua JIN ,Email: kingkoka825@yahoo.co.jp

Published online: 30 June 2022.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s later story “Spring Nights” (“Bungei Shunju”), published in September 1926, is a work that has not been much discussed. During his stay in his wife’s parents’ house in Kugenuma in 1926, from June 8^th to the end of the month, he received the said material from the nurse who accompanied him. In previous interpretative studies of this work, it has been perceived that the theme of the “Shadow of Death” represents creeping melancholy. However, the main focus of this work is the “strangeness” of the experience which Ms. N talked about. In other words, it seems that the author’s aim was to create a mystery that could not be interpreted on the basis of knowledge of natural science. Therefore, in this light, I would like to attempt a new reading of “Spring Nights” in this article.

Keywords: Ghost, Wraith, Materialization, Psychoanalysis, Spiritualism

キ―ワ―ド: 怪異, 生霊, 物質化現象, 精神分析, 心霊学