Dark Night Journey - Anyakoro

A full-length novel by Shiga Naoya. It was serialized intermittently in Kaizo magazine from January 1921 (Taisho 10) to April 1937 (Showa 12). The first part was published by Shinchosha in 1922. The second part was included in Kaizosha's Complete Works of Shiga Naoya in 1937. The draft, which began at the time of conception in the early Taisho period, was included in the Iwanami Shoten edition of the complete works published after Shiga's death. It is one of the masterpieces in the history of modern literature, with an extremely complicated history of its creation and completion. It is a work that is dominated by the protagonist, Tokito Kensaku, who endures the shock of discovering the secret of his birth as an illegitimate child, and his wife's infidelity, and after repeated physical and mental wanderings, he finally recovers by his own efforts. The scenes move from Tokyo to Onomichi, Kyoto, and Mt. Daisen in Sanin. The story revolves around the psychology of the protagonist Kensaku and his feelings of like and dislike, with his grandfather's concubine Oei and his wife Naoko, who appears in the second part, playing important roles. The story unfolds like a chain of short stories, so the depiction of each shot and scene is outstanding rather than the solidity of the structure. The depictions of nature in Onomichi and Mt. Oyama are particularly famous. Akutagawa Ryunosuke also admired this work. This work, which beautifully achieves the harmony of beauty and ethics, has been widely criticized by contemporary and later writers and critics, and is highly acclaimed as one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of modern literature.

[Toshiro Akano]

"Dark Night's Journey" (Iwanami Bunko, Kadokawa Bunko, Kodansha Bunko, Shincho Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

志賀直哉(なおや)の長編小説。1921年（大正10）1月～1937年（昭和12）4月、『改造』に断続連載。前編は1922年新潮社刊。後編は1937年改造社の『志賀直哉全集』に収録。志賀没後の岩波書店版全集に大正初期に始まる構想時からの草稿を収めた。近代文学史のなかでは、その成立、完成にきわめて複雑な経緯をもつ傑作の一つ。主人公時任(ときとう)謙作1人まかり通る式の作品で、不義の子謙作という出生の秘密、さらに妻の不倫というショックに耐えつつ、自己のみの力で、肉体的、精神的彷徨(ほうこう)を重ねたすえ、自己回復に至る物語である。場面は東京、尾道(おのみち)、京都、山陰の大山(だいせん)と移る。主人公謙作の心理、好悪の感情が軸となり、祖父の妾(めかけ)のお栄、後編に登場する妻の直子が重要な役割を果たす。短編小説の連鎖のような形で展開、したがって構成の堅固さよりも1カット、1シーンの描写が抜群。尾道や大山における自然描写はとくに有名である。芥川龍之介(あくたがわりゅうのすけ)もこの作品に敬服。美と倫理の一致をみごとに達成したこの作品に対して、同時代および後代の作家、評論家も盛んに論評、近代文学史上屈指の代表作としての誉れが高い。

［紅野敏郎］

『『暗夜行路』（岩波文庫・角川文庫・講談社文庫・新潮文庫）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例