type:論文

This paper discusses Hirabayashi Taiko’s self-representation novels of "Nagesuteyo!"（Throw it away!, 1927） and "Seryōshitsu nite" （In the Charity ward, 1927） which reproduce her Manchuria experience, by analyzing through a compound-eye perspective of gender, class, and ethnicity. Considering the two novels as a continuous story, this study pays attention to the arrangement of the space and protagonist’s movement between different spaces described in fictions. It declares 3 aspects about the meaning and function of space in her works. Firstly, the space of railroad company in "Nagesuteyo!" symbolizes an obvious colonial space, in which the protagonist was oppressed by class and gender, and coolies were oppressed by class and ethnicity. In this space, the representation of coolies interlocks to the representation of Hirabayashi Taiko herself. Secondly, the space of Charity ward in "Seryōshitsu nite" implies the potential colonial space within the Japanese, in which the protagonist was treated like an animal, and this is similar to the coolies’ situation in the obvious colonial space mentioned above. Thirdly, the scenes of intercultural encounter and movement between different spaces promote the change of protagonist’s identity from an inferior female labor / wife / mother to be a socialist warrior. In her works, it shows a complex composition about imperialism and colonialism which are inherent in capitalism and patriarchy. It is apparent that Hirabayashi Taiko demonstrated a critical attitude to the framework of the empire, and represented the subalterns who were sacrificed and excluded from this framework. Thus, Hirabayashi Taiko’s self-representation novels are not only a self-speaking work, but also a work for the subalterns such as coolies and female labors. Her Manchurian experience story is a subaltern rewrite of a female writer with a compound eye of ethnicity, class, and gender, requesting the unequally allocated framework itself. The Manchuria experience in the 1920s was an opportunity for Hirabayashi Taiko to discover the subalterns, and the starting point for her to create subaltern stories.