«L’illusione autobiografica». Focalizzazione e scrittura drammatica negli Amerika monogatari

Nagai Kafū never wrote an autobiography, even though he said he wanted to when he was living in the United States. At the time he was absorbed in writing Amerika monogatari, whose stories partly fulfill this aim because of the large amount of personal recollections and information underlying their composition. One of the most difficult issues to deal with in analysing these tales is the point of view – focalization – which often shifts from one character to another and is sometimes almost impossible to determine. I argue that Kafū’s peculiar usage of point of view was influenced by his acquaintance with kabuki, and that focalization in Amerika monogatari is to be considered as one of the most effective functions of his autobiographical expression.