09/16 Readings Alla

I have read some pieces of modern Japanese fiction before taking this class. However, all of the readings for this class have definitely shown me a new side of it, especially how fiction explores the topics of identity, gender, and expectations women are facing.

In Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi, the narrator's pregnancy became a way of challenging the expectations of her workplace, and the society in general. I found it really interesting that her whole department, except for one coworker who seemed to show some care towards her, was so centered on how her pregnancy would be affecting themselves, but not the narrator. 

Yukiko Motoya's The Lonesome Body Builder was a very interesting read for me. Motoya chose a very interesting, maybe even slightly strange, situation to explore the topic of loneliness and how it affects one's identity and relationships. This reading made me wonder whether using such, I would say, extreme to explore these topics makes the message more effective as the author played on with the contrast of the character so strong on the outside, but so lonely and weak on the inside.

In The Woman in the Purple Skirt, I couldn't help but wonder why the narrator seemed to be so focused on the Woman in the Purple Skirt. In fact, she even wanted to be her friend and tried to help her find a job. Was the narrator trying to make herself look like a hero of some sort, or was she actually trying to help the Woman in the Purple Skirt because she felt connected to her in some way?

I found Aoko Matsuda's The Most Boring Red on Earth to be the most confusing for me in some sense. Although I do think that Matsuda did a very interesting job in exploring the relationship between women and their bodies. I found it especially interesting that she says she gets more praise for not paying attention to her body than for taking care of it. This made me question whether Matsuda is suggesting that women are taught to see their bodies as something to hide and ignore rather than something that should be appreciated. 

Similarly, Chapter 9 of Breasts and Eggs explores the theme of women's relationships with their bodies, especially when it comes to human relationships. I think I even felt sorry for Natsuko when she was explaining how she struggled to make love with Naruse. Even though she genuinely loved him, she just felt so uneasy. 

Fumio Yamamato's Naked felt slightly connected to Diary of a Void: both explored the expectations of a woman in the workplace but in different dynamics. Even though the narrator in Naked has been unemployed for awhile, I couldn't help but notice how men who had known her when she worked at her ex-husband's firm began to look at her differently after finding out about her unemployment. For me, this reading raises the question of how women's personal identities connect to their professional lives. 

All of the readings were unique in their own ways, but they still had a lot in common. I think the main question I would like to discuss is which characters are trying to resist the expectations imposed by society and which are just trying to survive within them?