I have a question regarding the following passage:

>
> 何でもいいから、笑わせておればいいのだ、そうすると、人間たちは、自分が彼[等]{ら}の[所謂]{いわゆる}「生活」の[外]{そと}にいても、あまりそれを気にしないのではないかしら、とにかく、彼等人間たちの[目障]{めざわ}りになってはいけない、自分は無だ、風だ、[空]{そら}だ、というような思いばかりが[募]{つの}り、自分はお[道化]{どうけ/どけ}に[依]{よ}って家族を笑わせ、また、家族よりも、もっと[不可解]{ふかかい}でおそろしい[下男]{げなん}や[下女]{げじょ}にまで、必死のお道化のサーヴィスをしたのです。

(I do not own the book in Japanese, I found the above text
[here](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000035/files/301_14912.html).)

Would it be possible just for the part **自分は無だ、風だ、空だ** to stand on its own as
a full-fledged sentence, would it be grammatically correct? Also in the book I
own it is translated as "I shall be nothing, the wind, the sky.", which sounds
all right to me as a sentence in English, but I am not sure about this bit in
Japanese.
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2015-07-10T16:09:15.510
25598
2016-06-18T02:39:19.877
2015-07-10T19:02:41.190
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question
grammar meaning
Dazai Osamu - 人間失格 「自分は[無]{む}だ、[風]{かぜ}だ、[空]{そら}だ」 grammar?
> 「自分{じぶん}は無{む}だ、風{かぜ}だ、空{そら}だ。」

No, this "phrase" does not stand on its own as a full-fledged sentence or be
grammatical by the "textbook" standards. **_It does not even come close_**.

In the context where this phrase was used, however, there is absolutely no
problem with it. The phrase was not created to appear in textbooks or grammar
books in the first place; therefore, it should not be judged by their
standards.

> 「自分は無だ、風だ、空だ、 **というような思い** ばかりが募{つの}り」

As the quotative particle 「と」 tells us, the phrase 『自分は無だ、風だ、空だ』 is only a
line that someone said or thought to himself, not to another person. These
lines tend to be more intuitive in nature and often "broken" by textbook
standards.

Every Japanese-speaker would know without even thinking that the phrase means
the same thing as:

「自分は無であり、風であり、空で（も）ある。」 or

「自分は無で、風で、そして空で（も）ある。」
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-11T07:34:50.593
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2016-06-18T02:39:19.877
2016-06-18T02:39:19.877
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answer