The Wayfarer (novel)
The Wayfarer (Japanese: 行人, Hepburn: Kōjin) is a 1912 novel by Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki.[1][2]
| Author | Natsume Sōseki |
|---|---|
| Original title | Kōjin |
| Translator | Beongcheon Yu |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Publisher | The Asahi Shimbun (newspaper) |
Publication date | 1912 |
Published in English | 1967 |
| Media type | |
| Preceded by | To the Spring Equinox and Beyond |
| Followed by | Kokoro |
Plot
Jiro, a young man in the late Meiji era and narrator of the novel, tells of the unhappy marriage and familial problems of his older brother Ichiro, a university professor.
Publication history
The Wayfarer was first serialised in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. The first three chapters, "Tomodachi" ("Friend"), "Ani" ("Brother"), and "Kaeru te kara" ("Return and after") appeared between 6 December 1912 and 17 April 1913, the final chapter "Jinrō" ("Anguish") between 16 September and 15 November 1913.[1] The completion was delayed due to Natsume's health issues.[3]
The novel is the second part of a trilogy starting with To the Spring Equinox and Beyond (1912) and ending with Kokoro (1914).[2]
Influences
Miguel de Cervantes' story "El curioso impertinente", included in his novel Don Quixote, has repeatedly been cited as an influence on Natsume's novel.[4][5] In this story, a nobleman tries his wife's fidelity by talking a close friend into attempting to seduce her, with unhappy results.
English translation
An English translation provided by Beongcheon Yu was published in 1967.[6]
References
- Natsume, Sōseki (1969). The Wayfarer. Charles E. Tuttle.
- Bourdaghs, Michael K. (2021). A Fictional Commons: Natsume Soseki and the Properties of Modern Literature. Duke University Press. ISBN 9781478014621.
- Marcus, Marvin (2009). Reflections in a Glass Door: Memory and Melancholy in the Personal Writings of Natsume Soseki. University of Hawai'i Press. p. 204. ISBN 9780824833060.
- Kuramoto, Kunio (December 2006). Translated by Cullen, Jennifer. ""Don Quixote" and Natsume Sōseki. In: Don Quixote, East and West". Review of Japanese Culture and Society. University of Hawai'i Press. 18: 57–74.
- Mancing, Howard (2004). The Cervantes Encyclopedia: L-Z. Greenwood Press. p. 510. ISBN 9780313328916.
- Lurie, David; Shirane, Haruo; Suzuki, Tomi, eds. (2016). The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107029033.