The Awakening of Women in Literature : The First Stage of the Development of Women's Literature in China and Japan

The emergence of a number of prominent women writers at the beginning of the 20th century in China and Japan suggests that women are no longer passive objects in literature, Indeed, women now constitute active subjects in this field. In this paper, I would like to examine the sources of similarities between women's literature in China and that of Japan. First, both Japan and China had the long history of feudalism, which became the basis of the suppression of expressing individuality in these countries. These cultural, economic and social transformations in China and Japan led people to realize the improtance of liberating themselves from feudalism and of creating a space for expressing their individuality. In this context, Chinese and Japanese literature discovered 'human as individual' which is the product of enlightenment thought brought about from the West. One of the most remarkable discovery about 'human as individual' was the discovery of 'women', which was accompanied by the call for women's liberation by pioneering female thinkers. Secondly, the forces of persistent traditional culture on one hand and emerging modernization on the other inculcated talented women in China and Japan with unique ideas and artistic inspiration for literature. Thirdly, those women who were engaged with literature during this period of time were regarded as 'mad women' in these societies. Their refusal to follow the traditional norms led them to be defined as daughters unworthy of their father's respect. Fourthly, woman's writing is the product of the author's experience. The seminal period of women's literature was characterized by the closer relations between authors and their works and by the mixture of spoken and written words. Finally, women writers became conscious of the importance of adopting original styles in their writing. It can be said that Japan saw the development of women's literature earlier compared with China because the influence of enlightenment thought came to Japan much earlier than other Asian countries. The relative distance between literature and politics in Japan might have left an open space for women's literary expression. Also, unlike Chinese women, Japanese women were free from the oppressive custom of footbinding. This may account for a lighter touch in Japanese women's writing compared with their Chinese counterparts who were coerced into this oppressive practice