Republican Aunthood: Intergenerational Texts and the Separate Spheres Criticism in Nineteenth-Century American Women Writing

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00401
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02030:English literature and literature in the English language-related
• Research Institution: Rissho University
• Principal Investigator: Masuda Kumiko 立正大学, 文学部, 教授 (80337617)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 女性作家 / ジェンダー / 家庭性 / アウントフッド

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research aims to assess the appropriateness of the "separate spheres" ideology in nineteenth-century American women's writing and examine their texts from a new perspective of "aunthood." It explores how a new generation of women in the mid-nineteenth century North could act as citizens and build an independent self-image without "full citizenship." In this process, the research identifies the actions and influence of the "aunt" on the niece (or a similar figure) and investigates the interpretive possibilities of the aunt-niece dynamics. The research suggests that a female personhood of "aunt," while independent from male figures in the household (husband, brothers, sons) yet not entirely detached from family and kinship ties, might have played a role in transmitting both traditional republican ideals and new values of women’s citizenship to the "niece" generation.

Free Research Field

アメリカ文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の提唱する「おば」という新視点を導入することで19世紀の領域論を再考し、テクストにみる新しい女性の自己像および市民的行為の実現性を検証している。「おば」と姪のような多層的世代間にみられる価値観の継承と交流は、実母と実子に限定する近代的な養育のあり方に疑問を投げかけ、現代においても共有できる問題だと考えられる。さらに、これまでの二元論性や同時代世代の連関性を論じてきた領域論の限界点を取り払い、多層的な世代の交流を通じて捉えられるジェンダー思想を考察することにより、アメリカ女性文学研究に新しい領域批評の準拠枠を構築する可能性が模索された。