タゴールと東アジア知識人との思想交流.pdfVIP

213 タゴールと東アジア知識人との思想交流 李　　宥　　霆 Exchange of Ideas between Tagore and East Asian Intellectuals Yu-Ting Lee This paper explores Tagore’s message to Japan and China in the early 20th century. What is central to his message is the dichotomy between East and West, and the spiritual superiority of the former over the latter. Although this proposition sounds overarching as well as specious, Tagore framed his argument in a critical manner. Section 1 examines the process of Tagore’s becoming a spokesman for the East, a role due to his surprise win of the Noble Prize for Literature in 1913. Section 2 focuses on Tagore’s speeches given in Japan and his exchange of ideas with Japanese intellectuals. Viewed in a chronological order, Tagore showed growing concern over the development of materialism and imperialism in modern Japan. Section 2 delves into the core of Tagore’s message to China and the feedback he received. As the structure of his civilizational discourse remained static, he put more emphasis on the past spiritual achievements of China and the enduring friendship between China and India. Tagore’s lectures here were more sentimental than polemic, embodying the sympathy he felt towards China in its plight. While there are already many studies on this topic in Japanese, Chinese, and English, in this paper I try to focus on the inner logic of Tagore’s rhetorically-structured messages, as well as the cultural and political contexts that the messages addressed. There are many fl aws in Tagore’s discourse; common denunciations are: insubstantial, na?ve, and blind to material needs. Nevertheless, in an age when Western powers were threatening to overwhelm the entire world, Tagore’s proposition of a united Asia― idealistic, spiritual, diversifi ed but harmonious―provided an alternative cultural paradigm. Although Tagore’s appeal fell on deaf ears during his lifetime, the rationale behind his construction of Asia is ever thought-provoking. 近代世界の「言説」と