| 词条 | Kappa (novel) |
| 释义 |
Kappa (河童) is a novel written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa in 1927. The story is narrated by a psychiatric patient who speaks about his experiences in a country of Kappa. It is a satire of corruption in Japanese society. Akutagawa took his own life the year the novel appeared, partially out of fear that he was developing a mental illness. It is seen as his masterpiece and the anniversary of his death, "Kappaki" (河童忌), 24 July, is named after this novel. SynopsisA psychiatric patient has lost his way and arrives at the country of kappa. He is treated as a special guest and talks with kappa of many occupations. Geeru, a radical capitalist, states that the unemployed laborers are killed by gas and their flesh is provided for food. The patient is astonished, but Geeru argues that because the poorest women survive by prostitution, the patient's opposition is sentimental. Kappa's national characteristics are materialism and nihilistic realism. The babies of kappa control their destiny. While in the womb, the fetus can refuse life as a kappa and be aborted. The patient also encounters The Maggu, a philosopher writing a collection of aphorisms titled The Words of a Fool including the line "a fool always considers others fools". Other characters include The Tokku, a sceptical poet kappa who has committed suicide and appears as a ghost by means of necromancy through the person of Madan Hobbu. Tokku is concerned about his fame after his death, although he admires the writers and philosophers who have died by suicide, such as Heinrich von Kleist, Philipp Mainländer and Otto Weininger, and esteems Michel de Montaigne who justified voluntary death, but dislikes Arthur Schopenhauer, a pessimist who did not commit suicide. As the patient returns to the real world, he muses that the kappa were clean and superior to human society and becomes a misanthrope. See also
External links
6 : Short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa|1927 novels|Japanese autobiographical novels|Novels set in Japan|Satirical novels|20th-century Japanese novels |
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