European Literature’s Gender Roles portrayed in Japanese Literature in

both the Romantic periods

WHAT IS GENDER?

Not biological but a socially accepted norm.

It decides the way men and women should behave.

European Romantic Movement

•Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement

•Relevant Novels and DramasPride and Prejudice Sense and SensibilityWuthering HeightsAnna KareninaDoll’s House

•Originated in Europe in the end of the 18th century (from 1800 to 1850)

JAPANESE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT

Meiji Era (1857-1898) Themes

changes in gender rolesIndividualismmodernization of society

Chijin no Ai(The Fool’s Love)Sasame Yuki (Makiyoka Sisters)NigorieMaihime(The Dancing Girl)Nora

OBJECTIVES

Find out the effect of European Gender Roles in Japanese Literature of Romantic Period

Identify the acceptance of Westernized Japanese Gender Roles in Meiji Era

Examine how the themes of Feminism and Women’s freedom came into Japan with Romanticism

LITERARY REVIEWWollstonecraft – “If someone writes to highlight the role of the softer sex, then, it can be fairly deduced from the present conduct of the sex…”

Ikuni Kaori - “the new breed of Japanese women writers seems to be cracking under the strain of contemporary Japanese society, which has been slow to acknowledge new gender roles....”

METHODOLOGY

1. Gather information from

i. Internet

ii. Books

iii. Lecturers

2. Analyze data according to the two different Literatures

3. Identify how Japanese society responded to the Westernization

FINDINGS

European Gender Role

Man Woman

•Dominating•Individualized•Acts with a Free-will

•Radical•Free-thinking•Craving for Equality•Breaking social boundaries

Japanese Gender Role in Meiji period

Man Woman•Dominating•Protecting the family•Earning for the family

•Traditionally bound•Being obedient to the husband•Performing the role of the house –wife•Limitation of their individual desires

Japanese woman was considered to be a ‘children-making machine’

MORI OGAI(1862-1922)•Pioneer of the Japanese Romantic Movement

•Influenced by Gothe , Henric Ibsen, Hans Christian Anderson

Toyotarō Alexandrovich Karenin

Maihime

Nora(1913)

Nora a traditional 'New Woman

‘Japanese Feminism’ and ‘Freedom for Japanese women ‘

TANISAKI JUNICHIRO•Influence of the new environment of Osaka•Portrays the negative side of the Westernization•Contrasts Asian and Western standards of beauty

CHIJIN NO AI

Naomi Anna Karenina

SASAME YUKIMakioka Sisters

Bennet Sisters

HIGUCHI ICHIYO

•First Japanese female novelist

•Recognized as a feminist

NIGORIE

ORIKI CATHERINE

Q & A

CONCLUSIONJapanese feminism emerged as a result of Japanese Romanticism

Japanese society was reluctant to accept westernized gender roles

The influence of Western gender roles changed the minds of Japanese people gradually