浪漫主義

Japanese JLPT N1 Vocabulary Japanese ★★★ 3/5 formal ろうまんしゅぎromanshugi
Reading ろうまんしゅぎ
Romaji romanshugi
Kanji breakdown 浪漫 (roman) — phonetic: romance/Romanticism; 主義 (shugi) — -ism, doctrine, principle
Pronunciation /ɾoː.ma.n.ɕɯː.ɡi/

Meaning

Romanticism; the literary and artistic movement emphasising emotion, imagination, individualism, and a reaction against rationalism and classicism.

A Sino-Japanese compound transliterating the European Romantic movement of the late 18th and 19th centuries. In Japan, Romanticism arrived during the Meiji era, championed by the literary journal 文学界 (Bungakkai) and writers such as Kitamura Tokoku (北村透谷) and Shimazaki Toson (島崎藤村). 浪漫主義 emphasised individual emotional experience, the beauty of nature, and yearning for the ideal as a reaction against utilitarian rationalism. The term is often shortened to ロマン主義 in modern academic usage.

Examples

  1. 明治時代に欧米から浪漫主義が導入され、日本文学に大きな変革をもたらした。 In the Meiji era, Romanticism was introduced from Europe and brought great transformation to Japanese literature.
  2. 北村透谷は浪漫主義の先駆者として、日本近代文学史に名を残している。 Kitamura Tokoku left his name in the history of modern Japanese literature as a pioneer of Romanticism.
  3. 浪漫主義の作品は理性よりも感情と想像力を重視する傾向がある。 Works of Romanticism tend to prioritise emotion and imagination over reason.

Usage Guide

Context: literary history, academic study, art criticism, cultural history

Tone: scholarly, historical

Origin & History

The Japanese term 浪漫 (roman) is a phonetic transliteration of the French/English word romance/Romantique, using characters evoking waves (浪) and wandering (漫). 主義 (shugi) means -ism or doctrine. Together they form the Japanese term for the Romantic literary and artistic movement.

Cultural Context

Era: Meiji-Modern

Generation: Adult

Social background: Educated

Related Phrases

仮名 Kana; the Japanese phonetic syllabary comprising hiragana and katakana, developed from simplified Chinese characters. 侘び寂び Wabi-sabi; a Japanese aesthetic that finds beauty in imperfection, incompleteness, and transience. An appreciation for the humble, weathered, and irregular. 俳句 Haiku; a traditional Japanese poem of 17 syllables in three lines (5-7-5), typically evoking nature, a season, and a single vivid moment. 入門 Introduction; a primer or entry into a field of study. Also: the formal act of becoming a disciple under a master in a traditional art. 和歌 Waka; traditional Japanese poetry, particularly the tanka form with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure. The classical poetic tradition of Japan as distinguished from Chinese verse. 和紙 Washi; traditional handmade Japanese paper crafted from plant fibres such as kozo (mulberry). A material central to Japanese literary, artistic, and cultural heritage. 四字熟語 A four-character idiom; a compound of four kanji forming a fixed idiomatic expression, often of Chinese origin. Known in English as yojijukugo. 常用漢字 Jōyō kanji; the official list of commonly used Chinese characters in contemporary Japanese.
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