Studies of Western Rhetoric in Modern Japan: The Years between Shimamura Hōgetsu's "Shin bijigaku" (1902) and the End of the Taishō Era

Western rhetoric was introduced to Japan as a coherent system a few years after the Meiji Restoration. First presented as the art of speech, rhetoric soon gained popularity as a field of study also concerned with composition and literary criticism. However, in the second half of the Meiji period, the rise of Realism and Naturalism and the persistent call far a plain and concise literary style began to seriously undermine the position of rhetoric, causing it to face a probable demise at the end of the 1890s. This study discusses the history of rhetoric in Japan between the beginning of the twentieth century and the end of the Taishō era. It clarifies the crucial role played by rhetoricians Shimamura Hōgetsu and lgarashi Chikara in conceiving a rhetorical theory capable of granting rhetoric a place of continued relevance in the literary debates of the time. Concurrently, the investigation demonstrates the existence of important links between Taishō rhetoric and studies of National Language and Literature, providing evidence that rhetoric continued to be a valid interlocutor for those concerned in the Taishō years with such issues as writing, literature and language policy. 西洋修辞学が日本に導入されたのは明治初期の頃である。通説では、主に演説法として最初の姿を見せた修辞学は、徐々に変質し、明治後期になってから作文教育・文学批評に影響を及ぼす学問として注目を浴びた。しかし、その後、写実主義・自然主義が文壇を風靡したことにより、衰退し消滅の危機を迎えることとなった。 本論文では、明治後期から大正末期までの日本の修辞学研究を分析することにより、若手文学者に批判されるにも関わらず、島村抱月及び五十嵐力がどのように修辞学研究の発展に貢献したかを明らかにする。さらに、大正時代の修辞学研究にも焦点をあて、その研究が国語学・国文学への応用という点において大きな役割を果たしたことを再評価する。