The Reconstruction of Cultural Education and Shin jo'en : Assessing Kawabata Yasunari's Instruction on Readers' Contributions

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  • 教養の再編と『新女苑』 : 川端康成の投稿指導にふれて
  • キョウヨウ ノ サイヘン ト 『 シン ジョエン 』 : カワバタ ヤスナリ ノ トウコウ シドウ ニ フレテ

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Abstract

A women's magazine, Shin jo'en (The New Women's Club), encouraged women's participation in the realm of the humanities. However, at the same time its double standard prevented them from developing their writing skills to become writers themselves. While Kawabata Yasunari offered instruction to readers who were interested in sending in their own pieces to the magazine, he narrowed the topics, effectively encouraging readers to limit their sphere of activities to their own homes. This paper analyzes the process by which Kawabata's instructions created the image that those limited roles of women were universal under wartime conditions. The idea that cultural education equaled a profession was emphasized in the magazine. The women who sent in their works but did not have any job considered writing their profession, devoting themselves to writing seriously and routinely. This was a way for them to affirm their own existence. This devotion to writing, however, ultimately resulted in their abandonment of any hope for social status or remuneration for their writing.

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