Tracing Shumi: Politics and Aesthetics in Doppo’s ‘Musashino’ and Sōseki’s Kusamakura

Abstract

This paper examines the function of the concept of shumi in Kunikida Doppo’s short narrative ‘Musashino’, which was first published under the title ‘Ima no Musashino’ in Kokumin no tomo in 1898. At first, the narrative seems to be no more than a simple travelogue, an account of the narrator’s strolls around the area of Musashino. However, there is more at stake in the narrative. The narrator is not simply describing what he sees but is guiding the eye of the reader along the landscape through the lens of shumi. The concept of shumi is used both to map the undetermined physical space and borders of the Musashi plain, while also serving as a mediator of an enjoyment of the landscape. This duality, of the rational versus the sensual, is reflective of the essential function of shumi within the narrative of ‘Musashino’. It simultaneously constitutes the physical world and mediates our perception of it, effectively evoking new horizons of human experience. This paper attempts to dissect the mechanics of this duality.