Ambrose Bierce

Japanese: ビアス - びあす（英語表記）Ambrose Bierce

American journalist and novelist. Known as an unparalleled satirist and master of short stories. Born to a poor farmer in Ohio, he rebelled against his strict religious parents and traditional environment at an early age, which led to his narrow-minded personality. After serving as an apprentice printer, he volunteered to join the Union Army in 1861 when the Civil War broke out, and distinguished himself as a brave soldier on the battlefield, but he also had a cold-hearted eye for the misery of war and the horror of death. After the war, he moved to San Francisco, and in 1868 entered the world of journalism as editor-in-chief of the local weekly newspaper, The News-Letter. In 1872, he went to London, where he published his sarcastic satirical writings in newspapers and magazines. Four years later, he returned to San Francisco, and for the next 20 years, he wielded his sharp-tongued pen, which is said to have been written with wormwood and acid instead of ink. His collection of aphorisms, The Cynic's Vocabulary (published in 1906, renamed The Devil's Dictionary in 1911), is representative of his side as a satirist. His writing skills began to decline in the 20th century, and misfortunes in his family life, including the death of his wife and child, led him to become misanthropic. Finally, he lost hope in civilized America, and in the autumn of 1913, he traveled to Mexico, which was in the midst of a revolution, and never to be heard from again. His collection of short stories includes Half of Life (1891), which includes a work set during the Civil War that depicts absurd death with sharp technique. Since Akutagawa Ryunosuke praised his work in Dim Sum, it has been a favorite of many readers in Japan. His other work is Strange Tales (1893), which deals with supernatural phenomena.

[Toshio Watanabe]

Short story

Ryunosuke Akutagawa once said, "When it comes to constructing a short story, few craftsmen are as skilled as him." Bierce is known in the history of American literature as a master of the short story, on a par with E. A. Poe and O. Henry, and in particular, his collection of short stories, In the Midst of Life (1891), which depicts the various aspects of death against the backdrop of the Civil War, shows the pinnacle of his extraordinary literary technique. The work, constructed with impeccable detail, takes the reader by surprise at the end, offering a glimpse into the unpredictable mysteries of human existence and the irony of life.

" A Horseman in the Sky ," the opening story of this masterpiece, depicts the tragedy of a young soldier who unwillingly shoots his father, who is an enemy scout, but the reader is not informed until the end that the target of the shot is his father. In the famous "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," a Southern plantation owner captured by the Union Army falls from a railroad bridge and, just before being hanged, has a momentary vision of falling off the bridge, escaping into the woods, and returning home to be greeted by his wife. Without being able to distinguish between fact and fantasy, the reader is suddenly informed that as he tries to embrace his wife, he "feels a blow to the neck that almost knocks him unconscious," and in the next moment, "his body, with his neck still broken, is swaying silently from side to side under the crossbeam of Owl Creek Bridge." It is nothing short of a brilliant ending.

[Toshio Watanabe]

"The Selected Works of Bierce, translated by Okuda Shunsuke et al., 5 volumes (1968-1971, Tokyo Bijutsu)" ▽ "The Strange Tales of Bierce, translated by Iijima Atsushi (1974, Sodosha/Kodansha Bunko)" ▽ "In the Middle of Life, translated by Nishikawa Masami (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "The Civilization-Hating Writer -- Ambrose Bierce, by Taniguchi Rikuo (1955, Kenkyusha Publishing)" ▽ "The Lone Satirist, Ambrose Bierce, by Nishikawa Masami (1974, Shinchosha)"

[Reference] | Devil's Dictionary

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

アメリカのジャーナリスト、小説家。辛辣(しんらつ)無比の風刺家、短編の名手として知られる。オハイオ州の貧しい農民の子に生まれ、早くから、宗教的に厳格な両親や、因襲的な環境に反発し、偏狭な性格をもつに至った。印刷工見習いなどを経て、1861年、南北戦争勃発(ぼっぱつ)とともに志願兵として北軍に加わり、戦場で勇敢な兵士として勲功をあげたが、戦争の悲惨さと死の恐怖を冷徹に見つめる目ももっていた。戦後、サンフランシスコに移り、1868年、同地の週刊紙『ニューズ・レター』の編集長としてジャーナリズムの世界に入る。1872年ロンドンに渡り、皮肉のきいた風刺文を新聞、雑誌などに発表。4年後ふたたびサンフランシスコに戻り、以後20年余り、「ニガヨモギと酸をインキがわりに用いた」といわれる辛辣な筆を縦横に振るった。彼一流のアフォリズムを集めた『冷笑家用語集』（1906刊、1911『悪魔の辞典』と改題）は、風刺家としての一面を代表する。20世紀に入ってからは筆力も衰えをみせ、妻子の死など家庭生活の不幸も重なって、人間嫌いとなる。最後は文明社会アメリカにも絶望して、1913年の秋、革命に揺れるメキシコに旅立ったまま消息を絶った。短編集として、南北戦争を舞台に不条理な死を鋭利な技巧で描いた作品を含む『いのちの半(なか)ばに』（1891）がある。芥川龍之介(あくたがわりゅうのすけ)が『点心』で称賛して以来、日本でも愛読者が多い。ほかに超自然現象を扱った『怪奇な物語』（1893）がある。

［渡辺利雄］

短編

「短編小説を組み立てさせれば、彼ほど鋭い技巧家は少ない」と、芥川龍之介にいわせたビアスは、アメリカ文学史上、E・A・ポー、O・ヘンリーと並ぶ短編の名手として知られ、なかでも、南北戦争を背景に死の諸相を描いた短編集『いのちの半ばに』In the Midst of Life（1891）は、彼の並々ならぬ文学的技巧の極致を示している。一分(いちぶ)のすきもなく組み立てられた作品は、結末で読者の意表をつき、人間存在の予測しがたい謎(なぞ)、人生の皮肉をかいまみせてくれる。

　この代表作『いのちの半ばに』の巻頭を飾る『空飛ぶ騎士』A Horseman in the Skyでは、敵の斥候となっていた父親を心ならずも狙撃(そげき)する若い兵士の悲劇が描かれるが、読者は狙撃の相手が父親であることを最後まで知らされない。有名な『アウル・クリーク橋の一事件』An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridgeでは、北軍に捕らえられた南部の農園主が、鉄橋上で縛り首になる寸前、鉄橋から落ちて森に逃げ込み、自宅に戻って妻の出迎えを受ける幻想を一瞬抱く。読者には事実と幻想の区別がはっきりしないままに、突然、妻を抱き締めようとする彼が「首筋に気を失わんばかりの一撃を感じ」たことを告げられ、次の瞬間には「彼の死体は、首が折れたまま、アウル・クリーク橋の横木の下で左右に静かに揺れていた」ことを知らされる。鮮やかな幕切れというほかはない。

［渡辺利雄］

『奥田俊介他訳『ビアス選集』全5巻（1968～1971・東京美術）』▽『飯島淳秀訳『ビアス怪異譚』（1974・創土社／講談社文庫）』▽『西川正身訳『いのちの半ばに』（岩波文庫）』▽『谷口陸男著『文明憎悪の文学者――アンブローズ・ビアス』（1955・研究社出版）』▽『西川正身著『孤絶の諷刺家アンブローズ・ビアス』（1974・新潮社）』

[参照項目] | 悪魔の辞典

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