Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
- The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Book part
- A note on Romanization and conventions
- Glossary
- General introduction
- Part I The ancient period (beginnings to 794)
- Part II The Heian period (794–1185)
- Part III The medieval period (1185–1600)
- Part IV The Edo period (1600–1867)
- Part V The modern period (1868 to present)
- 56 Introduction: nation building, literary culture, and language
- 57 Kanshibun in the Meiji period and beyond
- 58 Translated fiction, political fiction
- 59 Newspaper serials in the late nineteenth century
- 60 Translation, vernacular style, and the Westernesque femme fatale in modern Japanese literature
- 61 The rise of modern women’s literature
- 62 Melodrama, family romance, and the novel at the turn of the century
- 63 Modern Japanese poetry to the 1910s
- 64 Between the Western and the traditional: Mori Ōgai, Nagai Kafū, and Tanizaki Jun’ichirō
- 65 Natsume Sōseki and the theory and practice of literature
- 66 A new era of women writers
- 67 Literary marketplace, politics, and history: 1900s–1940s
- 68 Canonization and popularization: anthologies and literary prizes
- 69 Colonialism, translation, literature: Takahama Kyoshi’s passage to Korea
- 70 Primitivism and imperial literature of Taiwan and the South Seas
- 71 From empire to nation: the spatial imaginary of the 1920s to early 1950s
- 72 Japanese literature and cinema from the 1910s to the 1950s
- 73 Modern drama
- 74 Modern poetry: 1910s to the postwar period
- 75 Trends in postwar literature, 1945–1970s
- 76 Women’s fiction in the postwar era
- 77 The emergence of girls’ manga and girls’ culture
- 78 Modern Japanese literature from Okinawa
- 79 Postwar Zainichi writings: politics, language, and identity
- 80 Contemporary Japanese fiction
- Bibliography of English secondary sources and translations
- Index
61 - The rise of modern women’s literature
from Part V - The modern period (1868 to present)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2016
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
- The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Book part
- A note on Romanization and conventions
- Glossary
- General introduction
- Part I The ancient period (beginnings to 794)
- Part II The Heian period (794–1185)
- Part III The medieval period (1185–1600)
- Part IV The Edo period (1600–1867)
- Part V The modern period (1868 to present)
- 56 Introduction: nation building, literary culture, and language
- 57 Kanshibun in the Meiji period and beyond
- 58 Translated fiction, political fiction
- 59 Newspaper serials in the late nineteenth century
- 60 Translation, vernacular style, and the Westernesque femme fatale in modern Japanese literature
- 61 The rise of modern women’s literature
- 62 Melodrama, family romance, and the novel at the turn of the century
- 63 Modern Japanese poetry to the 1910s
- 64 Between the Western and the traditional: Mori Ōgai, Nagai Kafū, and Tanizaki Jun’ichirō
- 65 Natsume Sōseki and the theory and practice of literature
- 66 A new era of women writers
- 67 Literary marketplace, politics, and history: 1900s–1940s
- 68 Canonization and popularization: anthologies and literary prizes
- 69 Colonialism, translation, literature: Takahama Kyoshi’s passage to Korea
- 70 Primitivism and imperial literature of Taiwan and the South Seas
- 71 From empire to nation: the spatial imaginary of the 1920s to early 1950s
- 72 Japanese literature and cinema from the 1910s to the 1950s
- 73 Modern drama
- 74 Modern poetry: 1910s to the postwar period
- 75 Trends in postwar literature, 1945–1970s
- 76 Women’s fiction in the postwar era
- 77 The emergence of girls’ manga and girls’ culture
- 78 Modern Japanese literature from Okinawa
- 79 Postwar Zainichi writings: politics, language, and identity
- 80 Contemporary Japanese fiction
- Bibliography of English secondary sources and translations
- Index
Summary
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 inspired a variety of social, political, and religious reforms. Women were a major target of reform. Prose fiction by women writers in the modern period is acknowledged to have begun with Miyake Kaho and her 1888 novella Warbler in the Grove. Most women writers of the Meiji period grounded their fiction in their own personal realm. Few had the imaginative vision of Kimura Akebono and most were hesitant to peer beyond the confines of their own experience. Wakamatsu Shizuko is remembered for Shokoshi, her translation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's Little Lord Fauntleroy. Shizuko's translation is important not only for introducing readers to literature for children, but also for forging a path to genbun-itchi or a modern literary vernacular. From feminist orator to cloistered daughter, Meiji women writers hailed from diverse backgrounds and made their mark in an impressive assortment of genres and styles: romantic poetry, political essays, kabuki dramas, novellas, and stories.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature , pp. 598 - 604Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015