| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Since The Lady's Magazine and Repository of Entertaining Knowledge, which is considered to be the first periodical for white, native-born and middle-class women, was published in 1792 in the United States, some 200 magazines followed its popularity and success by the end of the 19th century. With each magazine witnessing severe competition for an increasing number of subscribers, many editors tried to get their readers to continue reading the following issues by publishing serialized novels. Among the many types of discourse in magazines, including editorials, advice columns and advertisements, it was the magazine novels that served as an important way to attract readers to magazines, especially around the turn of the century.
In my study, I have tried to analyze these serial novels, centering on those in the Ladies' Home Journal, published in 1883. This was the first magazine to reach a circulation of a million subscribers. Many scholars of cultural studies, women's studies or journali
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sm have pointed out the essential role of the magazine in establishing and transforming the prevailing sense of values among female readers. While many emphasize its power of influence on contemporary women's experiences, it seems that they have regarded the serial novels in the magazine as being of little literary worth for reading and evaluating.
Patricia Okker, in Social Stories: the Magazine Novel in Nineteenth-Century America (2003), tries to appreciate some novels in the popular magazines, pointing out the unique and distinctive literary form of the serialized novels. I have attempted to analyze the contents of 20 works, printed from 1884 to 1949 in the Ladies' Home Journal. It is obvious that three special elements, namely `accidents,' `secrets' and 'mystery,' were employed in every work to develop the plot lines of the serial novels effectively. I find that modern readers find it difficult to evaluate these effective elements in the serial novels. Further research is required to pursue a more precise and comprehensive study of the serialized novels in the women's popular magazines in the United States. Less
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