Mad girls in the attic: Louisa May Alcott, Yoshiya Nobuko and the development of Shōjo culture

The purpose of this study is to focus on girls\u27 narratives which have rarely been discussed outside the category of juvenile literature. This study attempts to reevaluate them and treat them as part of female creativity, analyzing them in the light of feminism. This study is entitled “Mad Girls in the Attic” in order to suggest a new tradition of girls\u27 writings branching from the established women\u27s literary tradition described in The Mad Woman in the Attic. This study has two goals; it follows how American girls\u27 culture came to Japan and helped establish Japanese girls\u27 culture, and it also examines the nature of girls\u27 narratives, which is related to their authors\u27 adolescent mentality. The first and second chapters are a comparative study of Louisa May Alcott and Yoshiya Nobuko, the forerunners of girls\u27 story writing who were also feminists. Interestingly, they followed similar career paths and faced similar problems as popular writers; desiring to be acknowledged as serious writers, they struggled between literary aspiration and the desire for fame. By comparing their writings and the changes in their literary styles, this study examines what makes girls\u27 stories unique and political. The third chapter focuses on those stories by Yoshiya which were targeted at an adult audience. It shows how Yoshiya used the “immature” girls\u27 mentality as her political weapon to confront patriarchal society. Chapter four addresses Kawabata Yasunari, a canonized male author and a popular writer of girls\u27 stories. While revealing the gender differences between his narrative presentations and those of Yoshiya, this chapter discusses how the topic of “girl” is a significant element in Kawabata\u27s mainstream literature. Chapter five shifts the focus to girls\u27 culture of the postwar era. Dealing with girls\u27 manga and popular literature written by young writers, it examines how their narratives embody the same girl\u27s mentality as Alcott and Yoshiya expressed in their works. Girls\u27 culture continue to be a source of inspiration for Japanese girls

グローバル時代における海外での日本文学の教え方 : 総合的日本語教育の実践に向けた一案（比較日本学教育研究センター・大学院教育改革支援プログラム主催第1回公開講演会）

2008年1月23日にお茶の水女子大学で開催されたドラージュ・土屋浩美先生による公開講演会「グローバル時代における海外での日本文学の教え方―総合的日本語教育の実践に向けた一案―」の内