<論文>「紳士」という理想像の誕生と展開 : 近代日本の礼儀作法書にみる

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the "Shinshi" (= gentleman) as an ideal person who symbolizes "Westernization" and "modernization", through a discourse of Etiquette books from the Meiji to the Taisho era. In particular I examine rhetoric, words and phrases which often appeared around "Shinshi", focusing on extracting social dynamics around depictions of "Shinshi". My analyses aim to clarify the mechanism of yearning and traction at work in the acceptance of Western customs. From the beginning to the middle of the Meiji era, many translated Etiquette books were published. These addressed society's needs for civilization and enlightenment, and served to introduce Western customs. From the late Meiji to the Taisho era, many Etiquette books were published which meant to teach how to succeed or how to associate with other people. In these books, familiarity with Western customs was important, and "Shinshi" was an ideal person embodying Westernization. As Western customs gradually spread, words such as "hankatsuu" (= smatterer) or "kabure" (= infected) were used as bantering insults, and trivial differences in knowledge of Western culture took on great importance. The spread of these words and phrases, along with a penetration of Westernized customs as a symbol of the upper classes, suggests the generation of a mechanism leading to assimilation to or exclusion from the "West". "Westernized" became a principle of distinction, especially in the Etiquette books on success and textbooks for becoming "Shinshi". "Shinshi" was the embodiment of this mechanism for assimilation or exclusion around an axis of Westernization. In this paper, I examine a concrete image of a personal type symbolizing Westernization to help clarify the mechanism for acceptance of Western customs. These aspects of Westernization receive insufficient attention in those previous works which treat Westernization as simply a unilinear process.