芥川竜之介 「횻도코」 論 - 헤이기치의 허망한 몸부림 - (On “Hyottoko” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa - Heikichi’s Nihilistic Writhing -)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 일본어문학회
· 수록지 정보 : 일본어문학 / 72호 / 311 ~ 336페이지
· 저자명 : 신기동

초록

本稿では芥川竜之介の初期短編「ひょっとこ」の中心人物の山村平吉に焦点を絞り、作中に造形してある彼の人物像を照明し、なお作品世界の特質と作者の人間観及び現実認識について論じてみた。平吉における酒は「誰にでも腰が低い」彼を「誰の前でも遠慮が入らない」ようにしてくれる「難有い」ものである。一方、平吉は「毎日平気で嘘をついて」おり、「何故そう嘘が出るのだかわからない」とある。平吉における嘘は酒と同じく彼の生き甲斐で、自己表出の一方法と言えよう。彼は橋の上の見物人の野次馬が飛び交う中、「一杯機嫌で」花見舟の舷へ上って「塩吹面舞」をしている最中に脳溢血で亡くなる。ひょっとこ面は酔いの力を借りて「馬鹿踊」をする平吉をより大胆にしてくれる、場合によっては匿名性を保障してくれる道具でもある。ところで、平吉は彼自身の生き甲斐でもあり、自己表出の手段でもあった酒のために亡くなってしまう。作品の末尾で平吉が苦し紛れに外してもらったひょっとこ面は、何時ものとは違う平吉の顔を「ただ変らな」く「見上げている」。末尾の逆説は嘘つき平吉の虚ろな生を相対化し、なお極大化する。これが故に真なる意味で決して欲望通りの主体的で自律的な生が営めないという、作者の冷笑的な人間観と虚無主義の片鱗が見い出せる。

영어초록

Concentrating on Heikichi Yamamura, the main character of the early short story “Hyottoko” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the present article explicates the figure depicted in the story and examines the unique features of the story as well as Akutagawa’s recognition of humans and reality. For Heikichi, a person who is “very modest to anyone,” sake is an “appreciated” thing which lets him “behave boldly in front of the others.” On the other hand, Heikichi tells lies without hesitation everyday,” and he himself wonders “why lies come out of his mouth so easily.” Like sake, lies vitalize his life, and they can be viewed as the means of self-expression. He “gets drunk with a cup of sake,” and steps on the side of a Hanami-boat.
He then performs a dance called “Hyottoko Mai,” and dies due to a stroke in the middle of dancing. The Hyottoko mask is a tool which makes even bolder Heikichi, who has already behaved boldly with the help of sake, and which may hide his identity. He dies because of sake, which revitalizes his life and which serves as the means of self-expression. At the end of the story, the Hyottoko mask is taken off his face, and the mask “looks up at” him “just as usual.” This paradox relativizes, and enlarges, his blank life. Therefore, we can reveal Akutagawa’s cynical view of humans and Nihilism, the idea that one cannot live a desired, subjective, and autonomous life in any strict sense.

참고자료

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