A Preliminary Study Of The Genbun Itchi Problem Of Modern Japan

Genbun itchi Movement, or the "speaking matching writing" movement is generally referred to as the process of language reform in Japan since the Meiji Restoration until the end of the Second World War. Its content includes "national character,""national style of text," as well as lingua franca, or a "national language," and a multitude of other aspects, such as literature. Genbun itchi affected many aspects of Japan including Japanese folk society, the national modality and so on. It’s possible to say that the formation of Japan’s recent state is inseparable with Genbun itchi; therefore, the revelation of the contents of Genbun itchi and in-depth research are indispensable steps in the study of the Japanese modern state and society.The process of Genbun itchi in Japanese language and literature and the process of building a new Japanese state model using the principle of "Departing from Asia for Europe" are complementary. The main objective of achieving the goal of Genbun itchi is to depart from the traditional Chinese language and model and to increase the proportion of phonological writing, in order to get closer to the phonetic European language. Therefore, the study of the historical background and causes of the Genbun itchi Movement, is also very useful and important for the study of Japan as a country and for answering questions such as how it implemented the strategy of "Departing from Asia for Europe" as well as how it became an aggressive country.There is a great similarity between Japan’s’Speech-text Consistent Movement’ and China’s Vernacular Movement, which began during the late Qing dynasty. Since the cultures of these two countries have the same origin and are based on the same Chinese characters, there should be a common and comparable base between Japan’s Genbun itchi Movement and the Chinese Vernacular Movement which initiated the transformation in modern Chinese/Japanese language and literature. This platform also provides us a homogeneous pattern of transformation between these two movements. Therefore, the study of Japan’s "speaking matching writing" process naturally informs the further understanding and research of the Vernacular Movement in China, and works as a kind of "extensive research." In this sense, the research and study of the Japanese Genbun itchi Movement is indispensable to the study of the Chinese Vernacular Movement, and serves as a good point of comparison and reference.By centering his study around three organically connected core key-phrases "character-text-language," this dissertation discusses the process, reasons, and the details of the change which took place in modern Japan through the perspective of Chinese characters and Chinese text. This dissertation also absorbs the latest theoretical thoughts from Chinese, Western, and Japanese scholars in this field. Meanwhile, this dissertation makes every effort to seek macroscopic, comparative, as well as developmental insights to grasp the object of study, and at the same time, incorporate awareness of the complicated conflicts and interactions of contemporary international relations into the research problem. This dissertation combines theoretical research of the language and culture with practical political and diplomatic problems, and provides reference for the understanding of the contemporary Japanese national modality.This dissertation consists of six chapters, besides the first chapter "Introduction." The second chapter is to analyze the cause of the Genbun itchi phenomenon and the background; the third to fifth chapter is the analysis of the step by step evolution of "character" to "text" to "national language;" Chapter6is about modern Japanese literature and Genbun itchi Movement.