The Bulletin of The Thomas Hardy Society of Japan
2005
- No. 31-
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Editors
M. Asada, N. Ayuzawa, S, Fukasawa, Y. Kaneko, Y. Kinashi, S. Tsuchiya.
CONTENTS
Pages 1-145 Japanese text (untranslated)
Synopses:
- The destabilisation effect of Hardy's revisions to Elizabeth-Jane's role as Henchard's daughter.
The Restoration in the Penultimate Chapter in The Mayor of Casterbridge, Naoki Funamizu 20-31
The textual effects of restoring the episode where Henchard returns for Elizabeth-Jane's wedding
What Casterbridge Represents, Yoshiko Ito 32-46
Casterbridge as the external correlative of Henchard's character
Verbal and Visual Representation of Rural Life in Far From the Madding Crowd, Takako Kihara 47-59
Discusses the collaboration between Hardy and illustrator Helen Paterson and how the mixed media effect enhances the text (Ed: wd be good except that Paterson and TH didn't collaborate- TH wished!)
Eustacia's Depression: Marriage, the Law and Femininity in Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native, Kaoruko Sakata 60-78
Starts with the erroneous premise that Eustacia was "husband hunting" and then claims she was threatened by domestic violence. (Sakata was reading a different novel) This essay is off the wall.
The Woodlanders and Herbert Spencer: Ethical Implication of the Ruin of Winterborne, Michiko Seimiya 79-93
Hardy's Spencerian outlook: Winterborne a loser on the evolutionary scale and Grace a winner.
The Influence of City Living on Hardy -- Its Connection with the City as portrayed in Jude, Kyoako Tsutsui 94-109
A dated critique. Tsutsui is not "reading" Hardy.
On Time and Space symbolized by Tess and Sue, Yukinobu Stake 110-125
Space and Time in narrative representation. Ambitious ideas.
An Agent of Hardy's Fatalism, From Greek Tragedy through Darwinism, Beniko Imamura 125-145
From Greek Tragedy through Darwinism in 4 pages.
Text is Fate: The Defeat of Positivism in Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge, Jun Suzuki 146-162
Arguing unconvincingly from the particular to the general, on issues ranging from evolution to Positivism, Suzuki contests Hardy's idea of "character as fate" in MC . The focus of the essay is blurred and shifting and seeks to show that "the mysterious power governs the universe" (152). There is a some confusion when disparate ideas and texts are run together: for example, the "abstract" and the "spectral" - ghosts are spoken of "literal and figurative" (148). Suzuki interprets the resemblance to Newson in Elizabeth's Jane's features as she sleeps not to be a sudden insight glimpsed while relaxed and unguarded in repose but "as if a ghost really appeared" (152). Likewise, Lucetta meets "the ghost of the past," and Henchard sees "his ghost" (in the effigy), and Newson is "described by the narrator as a ghost." (156). Suzuki has no grasp of imagery, figuration and nuance. The essay concludes that because Henchard changes and grows the narrator "cannot but admit" that he is not "wholly responsible for his misfortunes"( 154) and claims that George Eliot's influence (Mill on the Floss) is here in evidence.
A muddled argument and too ambitious in scope. ( eg,. Eliot is tossed in in the last few paragraphs) .
Drinking in The Mayor of Casterbridge, Noriko Kato 162-176
A lucid essay well-researched and finely focussed. Discusses the temperance movement, the Beer Act and social background to MC. Shows insight into internal setting and social situation of drinking in MC-- aspects of community and pub life, social bonding and personal need. A solid contribution to Hardy scholarship and elegantly written
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