略觀「羅生門」

Rashomon at A Glance

日本近代文學逐漸成形的大正初期，芥川龍之介以『今昔物語』為基底，創作一系列王朝作品，並藉此登上文壇。使用和近代對立的古老故事作為題材此舉本身就充滿新意，為了使作品更加符合近代小說的體裁，芥川在原本的故事中添加了心理描寫和敘述主題。「羅生門」便是借用了大部分的原有劇情，隨著故事的發展，利用鮮活的描寫技巧交織登場人物的心理場景。另外，若單憑過去對其主題的認識，即以人類的利己主義作為研究中心的話，這部作品儘管可說是十分符合近代，但卻沒有超越近代的範疇。因此，如果從善惡的相對性、以及理性的不確定性加以考量，或許能開啟用「後現代主義」小說閱讀的可能性。舉例而言，和芥川分屬不同文學潮流的泉鏡花，其作品「高野聖」既無心理描寫，也無主題性，再加上古風文體的撰寫手法，使得它與被視為近現代作品的「羅生門」處在極端對立的位置。但所謂「文學」，便是擁有從現今的角度來看也不會失色的魅力。其若不能歸類在近代，不妨視為超越近代的文學。拔屍體頭髮的老太婆，剝走老太婆衣服的下僕──這種為了己身的生存而奪取他人身體的「惡的連環」，如果繼續往前推演，最終便會得到食亡者之肉的結果。大岡昇平的小說「野火」便描繪了上述情景，在故事中透過神，甚至是以神的形式呈現的深層倫理觀，來進一步處理食人肉的問題。無論是「羅生門」或是「野火」，都是描寫處於極端狀況下人類的迷惘和決斷，另一方面，武田泰淳的作品「光蘚」，則是以批評將食人肉放在法律的基準下裁斷的人們。綜上所述，為了生存而奪取他人身體的行為，應當可以放在更廣闊的面向下探究。

Modern Japanese Literature roughly took form in the early Taisho Era. Using “Tales of Old” as the basis for his dynasty series, Akutagawa Ryunosuke quickly rose up in the literary world. Taking old stories, which stood face to face with modern times, as material had to have been both quite unexpected and novel at the time. He incorporates psychological descriptions and themes into the stories, making them modern. With Rashomon borrowing the heart of the original story as is, Akutagawa uses magnificent technique to interweave the character's state of mind into the unfolding of the story. Moreover, up until now, viewed as having a theme of human egoism, Rashomon was quite fitting for its modern era, but that is not to say it was ahead of its time. However, when thought to have the themes of the relativity of good and evil and the uncertainty of reason, it could then be read as a postmodern novel.Izumi Kyoka's Koya Hijiri, following a different literary school from Akutagawa, has neither psychological descriptions nor easily identifiable themes. In direct opposition to Rashomon, irrational content together with and old-fashioned style indeed place it as a pre-modern piece. However, even now as a work of literature, it has not faded in the least. In fact, by not being modern, it is rather ahead of the modern time.Just as the old woman pulled hair from a corpse, the servant stripped the old woman of her clothes. This evil cycle of claiming someone's body in order to survive, if taken to a further extreme, ultimately leads to the eating of a dead humans' flesh. In Shohei Ooka's Nobi, which depicted just that, God, or the exposed depths of one's ethical values taking the form of God, prevents one from eating human flesh. While both Rashomon and Nobi depict the doubts and decisions of people pushed to the limit, Takeda Taijun's Hikari Goke directs criticism towards those trying to judge cannibalism from a legal standpoint. Thus, the act stealing another's body to survive can be questioned more closely on an even broader stage.