「從近松門左衛門作品探討心中之美學」

Abstract

江戶時代町人與遊女之間，出現了以殉情處理感情的方式，特別稱為「心中」。當時的作家近松門左衛門反映社會現象，將所發生的有名心中事件改寫成為文學作品，並做為歌舞伎與淨瑠璃的題材搬上舞台。在文學，戲劇的宣揚下，更助長心中的風潮，使其流行長達四十餘年，並對日本人死生觀的形成，產生極大影響。江戶時代為何會出現心中現象？心中究竟為何會流行當時，並讓日本人忘卻死亡的恐懼而欣然勇於「心中」？本文鎖定近松的代表作品「曾根崎心中」與「心中天之網島」加以探討，冀望經由此一研究，對理解日本人死生觀與日本文化中所蘊藏的死亡美學，能有所裨益。

During the Edo period, in Japan, there was a sudden vogue for so-called shinju (double suicide) between merchants and prostitutes. The shinju stories flourished for over forty years, especially after Chikamatsu Monzaemon adapted the shinju stories for the kabuki and joururi stage. This literature also has an enormous impact on Japanese philosophy of life and death. Why did the phenomenon of Shinju appear? Why was it so popular that the Japanese were enchanted by it? This paper will discuss this particular phenomenon by analyzing the two representative works by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Sonezaki Shinju and Shinju Tennoamizima. It is hoped that through this study, readers may come to a better understanding of Japanese philosophy of life and death as well as the aesthetics of death contained in Japanese culture.