계모의 상상력 - 지브리 애니메이션 <그대들은 어떻게 살 것인가>와 겐지모노가타리 비교 연구

The imagination of a stepmother : Comparative study on Ghibli animation The Boy and the Heron and The Tale of Genji

There are similarities between the introduction to The Boy and the Heron (2023), an autobiographical fantasy animation directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and one of Japan’s greatest classics, The Tale of Genji. The main feature is the appearance of a stepmother who bears a striking resemblance to the deceased biological mother. In the animation, the main character, a boy, has complicated feelings towards his stepmother and misses his biological mother, but ultimately finds himself drawn into the world of the tower, a different world, due to the presence of his two mothers. In short, it is a story about an adolescent boy who loses his mother, grows spiritually through various adventures in another world, and comes to accept his aunt and stepmother as his new mother. On the other hand, The Tale of Genji begins in earnest with an unfortunate boy (Hikaru Genji), who lost his biological mother (Kiritsubo no Koi) at a young age, beginning to feel affection for his stepmother (Fujitsubo), who bears a striking resemblance to his late mother. After many years of longing for her, he sneaks into her bed, they have an affair, and even have an illegitimate child. As mentioned above, both stories contain aspects that give the reader a certain sense of discomfort, but one thing they have in common is that they feature a stepmother who resembles the biological mother. In this regard, the mythological aspects, cultural anthropological perspectives, and the relevance of Japanese classical literature are being questioned. However, when we consider the actual contexts of both in more detail, it seems that there are some aspects that cannot be generalized. Therefore, in this paper, I will trace the context of the scene in question in detail, consider its meaning from various angles, and re-examine the significance of the ‘absence of the mother’ and the ‘stepmother’s imagination.

宮崎駿監督の自伝的ファンタジーアニメとして知られる『君たちはどう生きるか』(2023)と日本屈指の古典名作『源氏物語』の導入部には共通点がある。死別した實母と瓜二つの継母が登場するという点である。アニメでは主人公の少年がその継母に複雑な思いを抱き、實母を懐かしく思いながらも、結局二人の母の存在によって異世界である塔の世界に入り込む。要するに母を失った思春期の少年が異世界での様々な冒険をへて精神的に成長し、叔母である継母を新たな母として受け入れる物語である。一方『源氏物語』は、幼くして實母(桐壺更衣)に死に別れた不遇な少年(光源氏)が、亡き母と瓜二つという継母(藤壺)に慕わしい気持ちを抱くようになるところから本格的に始まっている。そして長年思慕した果てに、その寝所に忍び込み、密通し、不義の子まで生まれるようになる。以上のように、二つの物語は両方とも読者にある種の違和感を与える側面を備えているが、いずれにしても實母の面影を宿す継母が登場するという共通点が注目される。この点に関しては神話的側面、文化人類学的観点、日本古典文学との関連性などが問われているが、両方の実際の文脈をより詳細に考察してみると、一概には言えない側面もあるかと思われる。したがって本稿では、問題になっている場面の文脈を詳しく辿り、様々な側面からその意味を考察し、‘母の不在’と‘継母の想像力’の意義を改めて捉え直してみた。