2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
The Birth of Women Writers: Authorship, Publishing, and Translation in Modern Japan
| Project/Area Number |
21K12931
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| Research Institution | Waseda University |
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Principal Investigator |
由尾 瞳 早稲田大学, 文学学術院, 准教授 (70791656)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2021-04-01 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | 日本文学 / ジェンダー研究 / フェミニズム / 翻訳研究 |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The proposed research project examines the emergence and establishment of the category of “women’s literature” in modern Japan. The project investigates the backdrop of the expanding world of commercial literary publishing and journalism, and the various ways Japanese women negotiated the gendered categorization of “women writers” (joryu sakka) to carve out creative space in the male-dominant literary world. This project expands the narrative of women’s writing in modern Japan by considering the global connections through the study of translation culture and the emerging notion of world literature (sekai bungaku), which empowered women to envision alternative literary communities beyond national borders. This research also extends to the contemporary boom in Japanese women’s writings in the global market in the 21st century.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
I had planned to spend two weeks in August at the Columbia University Library in New York to research the global circulation of the New Woman discourse for the book manuscript. Due to pandemic related travel restrictions, I was not able to travel to the U.S., and instead continued my research in Japan.
In the Waseda University archives, I mainly researched Meiji and Taisho period women’s magazines and literary journals such as Jogaku zasshi, Seito, and Nyonin geijutsu. I also extensively read the works of authors and translators such as Wakamatsu Shizuko, Shimizu Shikin, Higuchi Ichiyo, Yosano Akiko, Tamura Toshiko, and Hiratsuka Raicho.
Finally, after travel restrictions eased, I was able to travel to the U.S. to present my research in a panel at the Association of Asian Studies conference in March 2022.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
I will be spending one year in the U.S. during my sabbatical, from August 2022 to July 2023. From August to May, I will be affiliated with the Harvard-Yenching Institute as Visiting Scholar, then will continue to conduct research at Harvard University until July. During this time, I plan to catch up on the research that was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, and make solid progress on my book manuscript.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Due to Covid-related travel restrictions, I was not able to travel to the U.S. to spend two weeks in August at the Columbia University Library in New York. I plan to make up for this by spending one year at Harvard University in Boston during my sabbatical from August 2022 to July 2023.
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