Junzaburo Nishiwaki

Poet and English literature scholar. Born January 20, 1894 in Ojiya, Niigata Prefecture. Graduated from the Department of Finance at Keio University. Submitted his graduation thesis "Pure Economics" in Latin. Moved to England in 1922 (Taisho 11). In London, where the beauty and ideas of avant-garde art such as Dada, Futurism, Cubism, and Surrealism were swirling, he interacted with J. Collier and S. Vines. He was baptized into modernism. The following year, he studied ancient and medieval English literature and linguistics at Oxford University. In October 1891, he published " A Kensington Idyll " in " The Chapbook ". In August 1892, his poetry collection " Spectrum " was published by Keim Press. It was introduced in the literary supplement of The Times and the Daily News. In April 1951, he became a professor of English literature at his alma mater. In "Profanus" (Mita Bungaku, April 1926), he accepted the Surrealism of A. Breton and I. Goll as "supernaturalism." In December 1927 (Showa 2), he founded a magazine he named himself, "Fukuikutaru Kafuyo," together with Sato Saku, Takiguchi Shuzo, and Ueda Tamotsu. He was active as the theoretical leader of "Poetry and Poetics." Through his diverse writings, including "Chugenjitsugi Poetics" (1929), "Shururearismu Bungakuron" (Theory of Surrealism Literature) (1930), "European Literature" (1933), and "Modern English Literature" (1934), he exerted a charismatic influence as the most authoritative intermediary of emerging European literature, including Surrealism. His collection of poems, Ambarvalia (1933, Shiinoki-sha), with its typical poetic lines: "Even on a spring morning/My Syrian pipes make the sound of autumn,/Tracing the thoughts of thousands of years" ("The Capri Shepherd"), is a classic of avant-garde poetry and marked an epoch in the history of Showa poetry.

During the Second World War, he gave up writing poetry, and in addition to writing "History of British and American Thought" (1941) and editing "Words of the World" (1943), he immersed himself in primitive culture, folklore, and classical Japanese and Chinese literature, and devoted himself to completing his doctoral thesis "Introduction to Ancient Literature" (1948, Kogakusha). Through his experience of defeat, he announced his poetic conversion in "The Traveler Does Not Return" (1947), and in "Modern Fable" (1953), "The Third Myth" (1956), "Lost Time" (1960), and "Song of the Earth" (1969), he subjectively unified the essence of the aesthetic traditions of the East and West from a pantheistic view of life, forming a free-spirited syncretistic poetic style. He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. His translations include poems by T.S. Eliot, Joyce, Shakespeare, and Mallarmé. He was the president of the Japan Society of Contemporary Poets, a member of the Science Council of Japan, a member of the Japan Art Academy, an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts, and a Person of Cultural Merit. His poetry has been introduced in the Italian translation of " GENNAIO A KYOTO " (New Year in Kyoto) by M.D. Lakewirtz, as well as in the UK, France, the former Soviet Union, China, Korea, Norway, and Romania. He is one of the most representative international poets of the 20th century, along with R.M. Rilke, P. Valéry, and T.S. Eliot, and upon his death, the London Times (June 19, 1982) published a lengthy obituary. He died on June 5, 1982.

[Noriaki Chiba]

"The Complete Works of Nishiwaki Junzaburo, Vol. 11 and Supplementary Volume 1 (1982-83, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Studies on Nishiwaki Junzaburo, edited by Murano Shiro et al. (1971, Ubun Shoin)" ▽ "Poet Nishiwaki Junzaburo, by Kagiya Yukinobu (1983, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Recollections of Nishiwaki Junzaburo, edited by Ando Shinsuke et al. (1983, Mita Bungaku Library)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

詩人、英文学者。明治27年1月20日新潟県小千谷(おぢや)町に生まれる。慶応義塾大学理財科出身。ラテン語で卒業論文「純粋経済学」を提出。1922年（大正11）渡英。ダダ、未来派、立体派、シュルレアリスムなど前衛芸術の美と思想の渦巻くロンドンで、J・コリアーやS・バインズらと交流。モダニズムの洗礼を受ける。翌年、オックスフォード大学で古代中世英語英文学や言語学を学ぶ。24年10月、『THE CHAPBOOK』に「A Kensington Idyll」を発表。25年8月、ケイム・プレスより詩集『SPECTRUM』を刊行。『タイムズ』文芸付録、『デーリー・ニューズ』などに紹介された。26年4月、母校の英文科教授に就任。「プロフアヌス」（『三田文学』1926.4）で、A・ブルトンやI・ゴルのシュルレアリスムを「超自然主義」として受容。27年（昭和2）12月、自ら命名した『馥郁(ふくいく)タル火夫ヨ』を、佐藤朔(さく)、滝口修造、上田保らと創刊。『詩と詩論』の理論的指導者として活躍。『超現実主義詩論』（1929）、『シユルレアリスム文学論』（1930）、『ヨーロッパ文学』（1933）、『現代英吉利(イギリス)文学』（1934）などの多彩な著作活動を通して、シュルレアリスムをはじめ、ヨーロッパの新興文学のもっとも権威ある媒介者としてカリスマ的影響を与えた。「春の朝でも／我がシゝリヤのパイプは秋の音がする。／幾千年の思ひをたどり。」（「カプリの牧人」）を典型的詩想とする、詩集『Ambarvalia(アムバルワリア)』（1933・椎の木社）は、前衛詩の古典として昭和詩史にエポックを画す。

　第二次世界大戦中は詩作を断念し、『英米思想史』（1941）、編著『世界の言葉』（1943）のほかは、原始文化や民俗学、日本・中国の古典文学に沈潜し、博士論文『古代文学序説』（1948・好学社）の完成に専念する。敗戦体験を媒介に、『旅人かへらず』（1947）で詩的回心を告知し、『近代の寓話(ぐうわ)』（1953）、『第三の神話』（1956）、『失われた時』（1960）、『壌歌(じょうか)』（1969）と、東洋と西洋の美的伝統の精髄を汎神(はんしん)論的生命観から主体的に統一し、天衣無縫なシンクレティシズム（折衷主義）の詩風を形成。ノーベル文学賞にも推された。T・S・エリオット、ジョイス、シェークスピア、マラルメ等の訳詩がある。日本現代詩人会会長、日本学術会議会員、日本芸術院会員、アメリカアカデミー名誉会員、文化功労者。詩業は、M・D・ラケウィルツのイタリア語訳『GENNAIO A KYOTO』（京都のお正月）のほか、イギリス、フランス、旧ソ連、中国、韓国、ノルウェー、ルーマニアに紹介されている。R・M・リルケ、P・バレリー、T・S・エリオットとともに20世紀を代表する国際詩人で、その死に際し『ロンドン・タイムズ』（1982.6.19）は長文の追悼記事を発表した。昭和57年6月5日没。

［千葉宣一］

『『西脇順三郎全集』11巻・別巻1（1982～83・筑摩書房）』▽『村野四郎他編『西脇順三郎研究』（1971・右文書院）』▽『鍵谷幸信著『詩人西脇順三郎』（1983・筑摩書房）』▽『安東伸介他編『回想の西脇順三郎』（1983・三田文学ライブラリー）』

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