Where to - Where to

A representative short story from Masamune Hakucho's early period. It was published in the January to April 1908 issue of Waseda Bungaku. The protagonist is a 27-year-old magazine journalist named Suganuma Kenji, who feels sorry for himself for not being intoxicated by principles, reading, alcohol, women, or his own intelligence, but has no idea where he should go in life and spends his days in idleness and boredom, despite the expectations of his father and teacher. This work prompted critics to call Kenji, or Hakucho, a "Japanese nihilist," and this view of Hakucho continued until the year of his death. However, this nickname arose from an overlooking of Kenji's constant desire for a "life full of life" and his yearning for action, and it cannot be said to be 100% appropriate, including his subsequent works.

[Masanosuke Hyodo]

"The Complete Works of Masamune Hakucho 1" (1983, Fukutake Shoten)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

正宗白鳥(まさむねはくちょう)初期の代表的短編小説。1908年（明治41）1月から4月号の『早稲田(わせだ)文学』に掲載。主義にも読書にも酒や女にも、また己の才知にも酔えぬわが身を哀れに感じつつも、何処へ生きる方向を求めてよいかわからず、父や師の期待をよそに怠惰で倦怠(けんたい)な日々を送る27歳の雑誌記者菅沼(すがぬま)健次が主人公。この一作を機に批評家から、健次すなわち白鳥は「日本のナイヒリスト（ニヒリストの意）」であるとよばれ、以来その白鳥観は彼の死の年まで継承された。しかしこの呼称は健次のつねに「生命に満ちた生活」を希求し行動への憧(あこが)れを抱いている面があまりに看過されたところから生じたもので、以後の作品をもあわせ百パーセント適切とはいえない。

［兵藤正之助］

『『正宗白鳥全集1』（1983・福武書店）』

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