Murderous Mothers and Maternal Subjectivity in Modern Japanese Literature

The proposed monograph entitled 'Murderous Mothers and Maternal Subjectivity in Modern Japanese Literature' explores literary expressions of the archetype of the infanticide mother and murderous mothers in fiction by modern Japanese writers. Employing a comparative perspective, it examines infanticide mother figures from various literary traditions, but focuses on three Japanese writers, Hirabayashi Taiko (1905-1972), Enchi Fumiko (1905-1986), and Oba Minako (1930 - 2007). Literary manifestations of the infanticide mother in their works are extremely varied: several of Hirabayashi's stories of the 1920s portray acts of infanticide within the context of proletarian struggle; Enchi's postwar fiction describes unseemly female protagonists who resist motherhood, and one work in particular contains an act of symbolic infanticide; Oba's stories of the yamanba (mountain witch) depict female characters who simultaneously harbor maternal instincts and infanticidal desires. The final chapter of this study will examine fiction by contemporary writers, including Kônô Taeko, who portray women who refuse motherhood frequently through representations of acts of extreme violence.

This study situates these striking images of murderous mother figures within the shifting discourses on motherhood in Japan since the Meiji period (1868-1912). It reveals a perceived threat with respect to the role of motherhood in Japanese society, and underscores the problematic status of the maternal body as an entity crossed with multiple and often conflicting ideologies both public and private. The question of motherhood in literature is of particular interest as Japanese women frequently cite motherhood as their 'ikigai' (reason for living). The present study aims to demonstrate that in the case of infanticide in modern Japanese literature, the seemingly oppositional acts of 'mothering' and 'murdering' are often decisively fused.

Although the term 'infanticide' is in common currency in the West, the actual practice outside of population control or sexual selection usually refers to so-called 'parent-child suicide' rather than 'infanticide' per se. In fact, the fates of children and their mothers in particular are so closely intertwined that the term 'oyako shinjû' has been coined to describe the murder of children followed by suicide (interestingly, the Japanese term 'shinjû' refers to a double suicide, not murder). Goodman (2000) has argued that the practice of mother-child suicide clearly illustrates the nature of the relationship between mothers and children in Japan. That is, as Yamamura (1986) suggests, children are described not as separate from their parents, but rather as 'mono' (objects) that are an extension of their being. In this cultural context the actions of murderous mothers in Japanese literature warrant special attention as they deviate from the 'oyako shinjû' model.

This study will provide a unique perspective on the relationship between infanticide, the maternal body, and subjectivity in modern Japanese women's writing. It offers a comparative view on the archetype of the infanticide mother, a topic that has been explored within the context of other national literatures - Greek tragedy, Mexican folklore, and African-American literature, to name a few. In the field of Japanese literature, however, no study to date has addressed the issues of maternal subjectivity and infanticide in a comprehensive manner or in a comparative framework. Significantly, this study provides a critical treatment of the role the maternal body - a key site of identity formation for women - plays in fiction by Japanese women writers.

Whilst this monograph will clearly have a primarily academic audience, the study has the potential to have an impact beyond this sphere. During my tenure as a Research Associate and Lecturer at Josai International University in Japan, I was directly involved in academic activities which directly impacted the community through seminars and workshops which welcomed the general public as part of the audience.

In a similar vein, I plan to organize a symposium addressing issues such as motherhood in Japanese literature. The event will be widely advertised and will welcome participation from members of the public. A website will be dedicated to the symposium, which will be scheduled to coincide with the publication of my monograph. I am also especially interested in hosting an interpretive book reading event open to members of the public as part of the symposium. I anticipate this event to have broad public appeal as there is little knowledge of Japanese women writers in the west. I also intend to deposit the conference papers and publications related to this project with ORA, the Oxford University Research Archive, in order to increase access to the research outputs. Other avenues for increasing the potential impact of this research project include participation in a media event such as the BBC Radio 4 programme, Woman's Hour. This is an excellent venue for reaching members of the general public who might otherwise not have access to information on these important issues in Japanese literature and society. The publication of this monograph and related impact activities will contribute to improving British understanding of a culture that arguably still remains somewhat foreign and exoticized in the western consciousness.