Freedom and Oblivion: The Ethics of Writing Gender and Aging in Enchi Fumiko's Kikujido

This paper aims to redefine from the viewpoint of gender and aging the ethical meaning of elderly women's writing by analyzing Enchi Fumiko's novel Kikujido［lit. chrysanthemum-loving child, 1982］. First, I examine the relationship between “the real world” and the other world which the female protagonist Shigeno describes as “a different dimension which is discharged from something smoldering inside of me.” By employing Drucilla L. Cornell's idea of the “imaginary domain”, I examine Shigeno's view of freedom and dignity in her later years. I then discuss the reasons for the representation of “kikujido,” the ageless child from Buddhist legend who also appears in Enchi's text. Finally, I discuss how Shigeno narrates “a different dimension” through Tanouchi Seki's final years. Although Seki had devoted herself to care for her family for many years, in the end her family rejects her like “an old broken appliance.” I argue that Shigeno's “different dimension” is an imaginary sanctuary, and that, within this sanctuary, individuals can explore the “luxury of living” and “happiness” while remaining oblivious to her o r his own physical body and historical/social oppression