《日本现代文学的起源》是日本著名学者柄谷行人20世纪70年代中期发表于文艺杂志上的批评随笔结集。1980年成书以来，这部代表日本后现代批评水准的经典著作受到高度评价，同时随着英文版、德文版、韩文版、土耳其文版等的陆续问世，更产生了世界性的影响。本书由八章构成,分别探讨了风景、内面(内心)、自白、病态、儿童及结构力(文学叙事)等日本现代文学独有观念和方法的形成过程，并从明治20年代的日本文学和19世纪的西方文学中挖掘出文学现代性的"起源"。这种对文学现代性的解构分析，揭示了日本现代文学的诞生与民族国家建制的共谋关系，以及其本身的制度化性格。这种通过对文学现代性的批判来解构现代性文化的写作策略，显示了批评家柄谷行人卓越的才智和敏锐的洞察力，为我们重建文学研究的思考方式和阐释构架，提供了珍贵的参考。(Origins of Modern Japanese Literature, a critical essay written by Japan's famous scholar Kojin Karatani in the mid-1970s, was published in a literary magazine. Completed in 1980, it has been highly regarded as classics standing for the level of Japanese criticism in the postmodernism. It influences the world widely as English, German, Korean and Turkish versions were published in succession. The book consists of eight chapters, the formation processes of Japanese modern literary unique ideas and methods such as scenery, inner face(heart), confession, morbidity, Children and structural stress(literary narration) are discussed respectively. It excavates "birth" of literary modernity from Japanese literature in Meiji 20s and western literature in the 19th century. Analysis of literary modernity reveals collusive relations between the birth of Japanese modern literature and system building of nation-sate, as well as its own institutional character. These writing strategies of analyzing literary modernity through criticism demonstrate Kojin Karatani's outstanding intelligence and keen insight provide precious referenced information about reconstruction of belletristic thinking ways and interpretative architecture.)