Kim Wickham

The Uncannily Unreal in Akutagawa’s The Hell Screen (Jigokuhen)

Akutagawa Ryunosuke is one of the most influential Japanese writers from the early 20^th century .  A master of the short story, Akutagawa is able to tell vivid, sometimes horrific tales of reality and the self.  One of his most interesting works is The Hell Screen (Jigoku-hen), which offers a terrifying glimpse into the consequences of violating the division between what one considers reality and the supernatural.  My paper will investigate how what I call the un-real is created and projected into the real, causing an unstable friction within the story that must ultimately be collapsed.  My paper is  influenced by the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud, most notably using his essay “The Uncanny.”  My paper will show that Akutagawa’s use of the uncanny is paramount to the effectiveness of the story.  It is through the uncanny that a blurring and overlapping of these realities can occur; without it the tale would cease to be about the creation of the un-real.  Using Freud’s extensive definition of exactly what evokes feelings of the uncanny it is possible to uncover how Akutagawa constructs these impressions within the story.  My paper will also briefly explore how themes found within The Hell Screen, as a result of the use of the uncanny, directly relate to the debate concerning watakushi shosetsu (I novels).

Kim Wickham earned her B.A. from Emory University and graduated with High Honors in Comparative Literature and History. She is currently working towards her M.A. in Comparative Literature at the University of South Carolina.  Her focus is on Japanese literature, particularly short stories from the Taisho and Showa periods, as well as novels from the post-War and occupation.