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A comparative study on women in Literature of Ihara Saikaku and Higuchi Ichiyo

Yoon, Hye-Min 1 Kim Sang Gyu 1

1부경대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

It is considered for us that women in early modern literature of Japan were not in different circumstance from one in modern literature. There was no specific word for ‘date’ in the days of Saikaku but ‘Kosyoku’ which had same meaning. Even though it was written differently in the literature, the love of characters was undeniable. Both of Saikaku and Ichiyo described the heroine of their works couldn’t freely date in the Confucian system. In the days of Saikaku, dating someone without parents knowing was prohibited strongly and could result in the death penalty. It was regulated much harder than in the days of Ichiyo so that women of Saikaku’s works were described as tragic heroines. This paper concentrates on the life of women who dated freely and excludes men’s eyes even though Saikaku wrote works dealing with male-centered love including pederasty. It is surprising that women characters of Ichiyo are reluctant about the love even given difference of position of woman and man writers. This suspicion led to this study. Women in Saikaku’s works date freely beyond the system. They choose men active and spontaneously and risk their life for love. Considering Ichiyo advocated modern romantic literature, Saikaku’s heroine lived more modern life than Ichiyo’s.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.