ABSTRACT
The most peculiarly characteristic form of the modern Japanese novel is the I-novel, in which the author appears as the protagonist and describes his private affairs and experiences. In Japanese literature in particular, the I-novel emerged from the naturalistic investigation of the self, but it was modified by and integrated into the romantic tradition of the pursuit of the self, a tradition which was first introduced to Japan through Emersonian romanticism and to which many of the naturalist writers subscribed even before turning to novel-writing. This chapter shows that Tayama Katai uses an ironic perspective in portraying the protagonist, creating a critical distance between the author and the protagonist, and that consequently the protagonist emerges as an ironic dramatization of the author, not as a faithful portrayal or subjective self-dramatization. Katai's Futon also deals with the inner conflict or dilemma of the new intellectual writer.
