도쿠토미 로카 『自然과 人生』 고찰 －서구 낭만주의예술 수용과 관련하여－

Abstract

This paper explores ‘Nature and Man’ by Tokutomi Roka in relation to the novelist’s acceptance of the romantic in western art and literature. A comparison with the paintings of the landscape artist Camille Corot shows that Corot had a profound influence on Roka. In particular, the pleinairism technique of painting, which anticipated impressionism and lays stress on light and color in Corot’s landscapes, was adopted by Roka in his imagery to capture a romantic and pantheistic view of nature. While working as a journalist, Roka published a book on Emerson and Wordsworth, and, in addition to these writers, he derived his romantic influence from Tolstoy, Wordsworth, Emerson, and Carlyle. By demonstrating that Nature and Man adopts the pleinairism techniques of western art and the literary ideology of western romanticism, this paper shows how western transcendentalism permeated modern Japanese literature. Being strongly influenced by various writers, such as Wordsworth, Emerson, Carlyle, and Tolstoy, and learning romantic passion and revolutionary spirits from them is also noteworthy. Like Wordsworth, who revived a return to nature because of his frustration at the failure of the French Revolution, Roka tried to shake off his unpleasant memories of Tokyo by moving to the fishing village of Zushi. Living in Zushi allowed him to develop a sensitivity to nature and master his expressive abilities. As he communed with nature, Roka observed the human world and experienced nature as a deity. Experiencing and meditating on the being of deity as a medium of nature was a consistent attitude of Roka. In this way, Roka incorporated western transcendentalism through the inner contemplation of nature, and the paper shows that this influence was facilitated by pantheistic elements already within Japanese spirituality and culture.