幸福的追尋─試論向田邦子短篇小說創作之意識與社會關懷

Abstract

本論文為單一作者之作品研究，研究對象為向田邦子的短篇小說，旨在探討其作品所呈現的核心意識，並分析其背後的人文情懷。首先整理向田邦子的生平與創作歷程，並分析歸納出其短篇小說的主題意識，最後從將作品放入社會學的脈絡觀點之中，剖析向田邦子文學意識與其社會關懷。 本論文依篇章整理之重點如下：(一)向田邦子的文學養成來自對閱讀的興趣、長期的閱讀習慣和工作經歷的磨練；生命歷經重病打擊後，改變了寫作文風，其寫作題材多以家庭為核心，角色設定深受家庭和個人生命歷程的影響。(二)作者透過創作傳達對幸福追求的渴望。寫下「幸福的申論題」，且不斷的質問，人們的幸福從何而來？又該如何追求？透過家庭生活的描述，與外遇事件的書寫，我們必須對生命有所覺知，對自己追求的理想生活必須不斷質疑和驗證。(三)隨著戰後十年日本社會風氣的開放和經濟的起飛，同時受到美國自由民主主義影響，和社會主義對底層人民的關懷，小說中所觀照者深具人文情懷，是更為個體性的，更加細致的生命歷程。 對向田邦子而言，書寫的意義在於對幸福的追尋。筆者認為或許用「文學的社會工作者」來稱呼向田邦子，更能夠為其小說書寫立下一個清晰明亮的輪廓。每一年的紀念特輯，以及發生重大災害後，對家庭凝聚的反思，都在在看出，向田邦子在文壇只是曇花一現，卻將其綻放得淋漓盡致，在逝世多年後的今日，仍不斷透過她溫柔蘊藉之筆，型塑新社會的價值。The thesis is a research on Mukoda Kuniko’s short novels. It explores the core of Mukoda Kuniko’s literary works and the humanistic spirit hidden in them. Mukoda’s lifetime story and her journey of self-creation are introduced, followed by the examination of the literary ideology of her short stories. The conclusion situates her literature within a sociological perspective and analyzes the relationship between literature and society. Chapter One introduces the development of Mukoda Kuniko’s literature. She has a great interest in reading and a long-term reading habit and working experiences. Her writing style has changed after severe illness; much of her writings become focusing on the family and characters in her stories are created and inspired by her personal and family life. Chapter Two explored Mukoda’s desire for happiness. She thinks a lot about happiness in her “Happiness Essay” and continues questions like “Where does our happiness come from?” and “How can we pursue our own happiness?” By reading her descriptions of family and narratives in extramarital affairs, we need to learn to be aware of life and keep wandering back onto the question of ideal life we are pursuing. Chapter Three discussed the humanistic spirit in Mukoda’s novels, with the economic blossom, social liberalization, the influences by Liberal Democracy from United States, and Socialists’ concerns for humble people from Socialism; these descriptions are more concrete and issues are more sensitive than before. To Mukoda Kuniko’s, the meaning of writing is to pursue happiness. It would be helpful to interpret Ms. Mukoda’s creations more accurately if we called her as a “Social Worker in Literature”. From memorial anniversary edition of her collections, from introspections of Japanese back to family after 311 disasters, we can learn that Mukoda’s Kuniko shows her talent fully in her short but sparkling literature journey. Now, many years after she died, she is still spreading her words about social and family concerns, hoping to change the society for better.