On The Private Novel In Japan

The Self-fiction, a type of literature with Japanese characteristics emerged in the early twentieth century, reflects values and aesthetic standards of Japanese. The main purpose of this dissertation is to grasp the essence of Japanese culture with the visual angel of literature and to understand Japanese literature deeply from the wide vision of culture.This dissertation is divided into four chapters.Chapter One concerns the origin of Self-fictions. Japanese naturalism abandoned scientificism and positivism, and emphasized "human instinct". As a result of the changing of Japanese naturalism, the Self-fiction came into the world.Chapter Two analyses the "Self in Self-fictions. "Self is the core and key to Self-fictions. Because Self-fictions abandon social wide vision, they can only reveal the essence of specific problems, which are not essential and not common. The Self-fiction is intrinsic and closed, which just reflects the closeness of "self. Because the authors think that arts must be true, the Self-fiction reveals one's true features.Chapter Three is about the artistic style and taste. This part tries to find the location of the Self-fiction in Japanese literature and world literature.Chapter Four discusses the relationship between the Self-fiction and Japanese culture. The Self-fiction is the product of Japanese traditional arts and the result of emphasizing "true". All in all, reflects a special and narrow culture of island country.