Modern Japanese women writers as artists as cultural critics : Miyamoto, Ōba, Saegusa / Michiko Niikuni Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilson, Michiko N., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Saegusa, Kazuko, 1929-2003.

Ōba, Minako.

Miyamoto, Yuriko, 1899-1951.

Feminism and literature--Japan.

Feminism and literature.

Women authors, Japanese--20th century--Biography.

Women authors, Japanese.

Authors as artists--Japan--20th century--Biography.

Authors as artists.

Women critics--Japan--20th century--Biography.

Women critics.

Miyamoto, Yuriko, 1899-1951--Criticism and interpretation.

Miyamoto, Yuriko.

Ōba, Minako--Criticism and interpretation.

Saegusa, Kazuko, 1929-2003--Criticism and interpretation.

Saegusa, Kazuko.

Criticism and interpretation.

Japan.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 236 pages : portraits ; 23 cm

Other Title:

Miyamoto, Ōba, Saegusa

Place of Publication:

Portland, Maine : MerwinAsia, [2013]

Summary:

The subject of this book has not received adequate attention from Japan specialists in North America. Translated and discussed here are critical essays by three of the most innovative, out-spoken, and provocative women writers in recent Japanese literary history: Yuriko Miyamoto (1899-1951), Saegusa Kazuko (1929- ), and Minako Oba (1930-2007) with the objective of, one, presenting a Japan that thrives in and on a multiplicity of voices, in contrast to its conformist image in the West; and, two, filling the critical need for English translations of primary sources aimed, in particular, at non-Japan specialists. The notion of women as "cultural critics" stretches back to the Heian era (797-1190 CE), and is notably exmplified by Sei Shonagon's The Pillow Book (992 CE), which, with its wit, barbed references, and no-nonsense comments on life around her, has become part of the Japanese literary canon. Her legacy reappeared after a long hiatus in the generation of women writers who swiftly took advantage of the "Taisho (1911-1926) Democracy." The "Woman Question" debate in Japan today, which Japanese women view as a basic human rights issue, has been revisited by contemporary Japanese women writers who have also gradually developed a feminist credo that espouses the equality of men and women concomitant with the expansion of the emotional interaction and intellectual interchange between the sexes. Book jacket.

Contents:

Biographical Sketches

Yuriko Miyamoto 33

Minako Oba 38

Kazuko Saegusa 41

Chapter 1 Yuriko Miyamoto (1899-1951)

Women's History: Following in the Footsteps of Literature 47

What Is "Womanliness"? 75

The Earth Still Moves 78

Chapter 2 Minako Oba (1930-2007)

Using "The Eyes of the Other" to See the Self Objectively 81

The Husband's Place, the Wife's Place 93

Toronto Travel Notes 105

The Human Archetype 116

The Premonition of Living Creatures 122

Chapter 3 Kazuko Saegusa (1929-2003)

In Lieu of an "Afterword"-Regarding What Is a Woman? 125

"Women's Logic, Women's Passion" 136

Men's Responsibility in the Matter of Love 157

You Mean All I Have to Do Is Marry and Get Pregnant? 169.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0983299129

9780983299127

9780983299134

0983299137

OCLC:

851473946

Publisher Number:

99955013886