Bunmei kaika 文明開化 and the popular classes: notes towards a social vision of Meiji literature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/ej.vi43.185941Keywords:
Meiji fiction, Proletarian literature, Fiction and politicsAbstract
This paper aims at examining the representation of the popular masses in Meiji fiction, taking as its starting point the observation made by critic Hirabayashi Hatsunosuke on the theme. Most traditional histories of modern Japanese literature tend to focus on the aesthetic debate between different schools, paying little attention to the relation of literature and the social situation movement. We close by confirming Hirabayashi´s overall assessment, but we still try to point out exceptions to this picture.
of common people. This paper aims at closing this hiatus through a description of movements
and authors in order to situate moments of representation of the masses. Meiji´s exceptionality
lies in its being a time of popular revolt, unrest and the making of a left-wing anti-government
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