[A material reading of Kenji Miyazawa's work]. / Une Lecture Matérielle d'un Poète Japonais: Kenji Miyazawa Materielle Lektüre eines Japanischen Poeten: Kenji Miyazawa Una Lectura Material de un Poeta Japonés: Kenji Miyazawa.

This article offers an interpretation of Kenji Miyazawa's fairy tales using the theory of material imagination proposed by Gaston Bachelard. Putting Bachelard's theoretical framework to the test in a totally different culture, the article focuses on the way Japanese fairy tales make use of the four elements of Empedocles. These four elements in turn help to uncover an unconscious source of creative inspiration for Miyazawa, revealing the predominant role of earth in his work.