Forster - Edward Morgan Forster

British novelist and critic. Born on January 1, 1911, he was the son of an architect connected to the wealthy Clapham School, a branch of the Evangelical Church in London. He studied at Cambridge University, but later became acquainted with the people who would later form the Bloomsbury Group. He abandoned Christianity, which he saw as conventionalized and restrictive of freedom, and was drawn to pagan Greek culture, which idealized the cultivation of the multifaceted talents of human beings. After graduating, he traveled to Italy and Greece, where he was inspired to write his early works, collected in his short story collections The Carriage to Heaven (1911) and The Story of the Sirens (1920). These stories depict pagan and mystical experiences that break the conventional outlook on life of the unimaginative British middle class. In his first full-length novel, Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), he contrasted unrestrained Italian culture with restrained British culture, and in the largely autobiographical Voyage to Nowhere (1907) and A Room with a View (1908), which again weaved in his experiences in Italy, he introduced a natural child who criticized the middle-class outlook on life at the time, shocking readers with his fresh approach. In his next major work, Howards End (1910), he depicted the process by which two families, one representing a liberal but ideological and class-conscious culture and the other a practical and utilitarian culture, went from conflict to unity, and after a long silence, in his masterpiece A Passage to India (1924), he depicted the difficulty of mutual understanding between different cultures, based on his experiences living in India. While these works despair at the difficulty of mutual understanding between people in this world, they also hint at the possibility of understanding mediated by mystical experiences. His criticism of modern culture is fundamentally similar to that of his friend D.H. Lawrence, but while Forster made radical criticisms at the ideological extreme, he was respected for preaching compromise tolerance rather than active love at the practical extreme. A number of current essays that develop this philosophy and defend freedom of speech as the basis of it are included in "Avinger Harvest" (1936) and "Two Hurrays for Democracy" (1951). He died on June 7, 1970. His posthumously published homosexual novel "Maurice" (1971) shocked the world.

[Ken Onodera]

"Where Angels Fear to Tread" translated by Nakano Yasuji (1993, Hakusuisha), "The Collected Works of E.M. Forster" (1994-95, Misuzu Shobo)" ▽ "The Endless Voyage translated by Takahashi Kazuhisa, 2 volumes (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "Forster Essays, edited and translated by Onodera Ken (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "Forster" edited by Kondo Ineko (1967, Kenkyusha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの小説家、評論家。1月1日、ロンドンの福音(ふくいん)派の一派で富裕なクラパム派の名家につながる建築家の子として生まれた。ケンブリッジ大学に学んだが、のちに「ブルームズベリー・グループ」を形成する人々と交わり、因習化して自由を拘束するばかりのキリスト教を棄(す)て、人間の多面的才能を養うことを理想とする異教的なギリシア文化にひかれた。卒業後イタリア、ギリシアなどを旅行、短編集『天国行きの馬車』（1911）、『サイレンの物語』（1920）に収められた初期の作品の想を得た。想像力に欠けるイギリス中産階級の因習的な人生観を打破する異教的・神秘的経験を描いたもの。長編の処女作『天使も踏むを恐れるところ』（1905）では、奔放なイタリア文化と抑制されたイギリス文化を対比させ、多分に自伝的な『果てしなき旅』（1907）とふたたびイタリア体験を織り込んだ『眺めのいい部屋』（1908）でも、当時の中産階級の人生観を批判する自然児を登場させて新鮮な衝撃を与えた。続く大作『ハワーズ・エンド邸』（1910）では自由主義的だが観念的で階級意識の強い文化と実務的・功利的な文化をそれぞれ代表する二家族が対立から結合に至る過程を描き、長い沈黙をへて代表作『インドへの道』（1924）では、インドでの生活体験をもとに、異文化間の相互理解のむずかしさを描いた。これらの作品には、現世での人間相互の理解の困難に絶望しながらも、神秘的経験に媒介される理解の可能性が暗示されている。その現代文化批判には友人D・H・ローレンスと根本で通じるものがあるが、フォースターは理念の極で過激な批判を下す反面、現実の極で積極的な愛よりも妥協的な寛容を説いて尊敬を集めた。こうした思想を展開し、その根本としての言論の自由を擁護した時事的評論の数々は『アビンジャー・ハーヴェスト』（1936）、『民主主義に万歳二唱』（1951）に収められている。1970年6月7日没。死後出版の同性愛小説『モーリス』（1971）は世の人々を驚かせた。

［小野寺健］

『中野康司訳『天使も踏むを恐れるところ』（1993・白水社）『E・M・フォースター著作集』（1994～95・みすず書房）』▽『高橋和久訳『果てしなき旅』全2冊（岩波文庫）』▽『小野寺健編訳『フォースター評論集』（岩波文庫）』▽『近藤いね子編『フォースター』（1967・研究社）』

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