Document Type
Panel Presentation
Start Date
19-4-2019 9:15 AM
End Date
19-4-2019 10:30 AM
Keywords
feminism, mythology, Japan
Biography
Edris Akers is from Princeton, WV and a senior in the Japanese Program with a minor in Philosophy.
Major
Japanese
Advisor for this project
Dr. Zelideth Rivas
Abstract
In the early 1900s of Japan, Hiratsuka Raicho started a journal called Bluestocking. In its early years, it focused on women’s literature. Soon after, the focus of the journal shifted to women’s issues. In one of the first issues, Raicho made reference to Japan’s creation myths in an attempt to stress the suppression of women’s rights in Japan. Raicho’s dialog regarding women’s reproductive health stirred innumerable conversations within the community. Through her poetry she made clear her own feelings on women’s rights of the time period. I will introduce the ode to mythology in feminism in Japan in the 1920s by analyzing Raicho’s “In the Beginning, Woman was the Sun”. Through this analysis, I will attempt to determine the meaning behind Hiratsuka Raicho’s use of mythology, specifically Amaterasu, as an expressive tone for feminism.
Feminism and Mythology: Hiratsuka Raicho and Japanese Feminism
In the early 1900s of Japan, Hiratsuka Raicho started a journal called Bluestocking. In its early years, it focused on women’s literature. Soon after, the focus of the journal shifted to women’s issues. In one of the first issues, Raicho made reference to Japan’s creation myths in an attempt to stress the suppression of women’s rights in Japan. Raicho’s dialog regarding women’s reproductive health stirred innumerable conversations within the community. Through her poetry she made clear her own feelings on women’s rights of the time period. I will introduce the ode to mythology in feminism in Japan in the 1920s by analyzing Raicho’s “In the Beginning, Woman was the Sun”. Through this analysis, I will attempt to determine the meaning behind Hiratsuka Raicho’s use of mythology, specifically Amaterasu, as an expressive tone for feminism.
