논문제목 : 근세후기 소설을 통해 본『소설신수(小說神髓)』의 ｢소설의 비익(裨益)｣ 분석

저자 : 홍성준(단국대학교 일본연구소 HK교수)      

등재지 : 일본어문학 95권  

발행처 : 일본어문학회       

주제어 : 소설신수 ;  쓰보우치 쇼요 ;  소설 ;  비익 ;  권선징악 ;  Shosetsu Shinzui ;  Tsubouchi Shoyo ;  Novel ;  Profits ;  Promotion of Virtue and Reproval of Vice

<요약>      

『Shosetsu Shinzui』 was published at a transition period when the Japanese literary world began to change under the influence of Western trends. It is a review book. In 『Shosetsu Shinzui』, he developed his own novel theory and logically analyzed the literary world at the time focusing on the literary genre called ‘Novel’, raising the status of novels into an artistic genre. The novel that Shoyo thought was a literary genre as an art itself free from politics, and his thoughts are expressed in『Shosetsu Shinzui』by comparing the novel with art. According to Shoyo, the ‘direct benefit’ of a novel is to entertain and impress people just like a work of art, and to impress everyone, not just women and children, is the direct benefit of a novel. And ‘indirect benefits’ are characterized in terms of ‘enhancing people’s dignity’, ‘recommending and chasing people’, ‘supplementing true affairs’, and ‘becoming an example of literature’. Combining the ‘direct benefit’ and ‘indirect benefits’ of the novel, it can be seen that the purpose of novels is to give pleasure to people and move people’s hearts emotionally, that is, to impress them. According to Shoyo, the era in which he lived was recognized as a ‘complete novel’ when Western novels were introduced, and Japanese novels were nothing more than ‘immature novels’ that needed improvement and development. As such, Shoyo criticized Japanese novels, explained the justification for accepting Western novels, and summarized the benefits of novels in the process.