Writing Pregnancy in Low-Fertility Japan

Writing Pregnancy in Low-Fertility Japan is a wide-ranging account of how women writers have made sense (and nonsense) of pregnancy in postwar Japan. While earlier authors such as Yosano Akiko had addressed the pain and emotional complexities of childbearing in their poetry and prose, the topic quickly moved into the literary shadows when motherhood became enshrined as a duty to state and sovereign in the 1930s and '40s. This reproductive imperative endured after World War II, spurred by a need to create a new generation of citizens and consumers for a new, peacetime nation. It was only in the 1960s, in the context of a flowering of feminist thought and activism, that more critical and nuanced appraisals of pregnancy and motherhood began to appear. In her fascinating study, Amanda C. Seaman analyzes the literary manifestations of this new critical approach, in the process introducing readers to a body of work notable for the wide range of genres employed by its authors (including horror and fantasy, short stories, novels, memoir, and manga), the many political, personal, and social concerns informing it, and the diverse creative approaches contained therein. This "pregnancy literature," Seaman argues, serves as an important yet rarely considered forum for exploring and debating not only the particular experiences of the pregnant mother-to-be, but the broader concerns of Japanese women about their bodies, their families, their life choices, and the meaning of motherhood for individuals and for Japanese society. It will be of interest to scholars of modern Japanese literature and women’s history, as well as those concerned with gender studies, feminism, and popular culture in Japan and beyond. Writing Pregnancy in Low-Fertility Japan is a wide-ranging account of how women writers have made sense (and nonsense) of pregnancy in postwar Japan. While earlier authors such as Yosano Akiko had addressed the pain and emotional complexities of childbearing in their poetry and prose, the topic quickly moved into the literary shadows when motherhood became enshrined as a duty to state and sovereign in the 1930s and 40s. This reproductive imperative endured after World War II, spurred by a need to create a new generation of citizens and consumers for a new, peacetime nation. It was only in the 1960s, in the context of a flowering of feminist thought and activism, that more critical and nuanced appraisals of pregnancy and motherhood began to appear. In her fascinating study, Amanda C. Seaman analyzes the literary manifestations of this new critical approach, in the process introducing readers to a body of work notable for the wide range of genres employed by its authors (including horror and fantasy, short stories, novels, memoir, and manga), the many political, personal, and social concerns informing it, and the diverse creative approaches contained therein. This pregnancy literature, Seaman argues, serves as an important yet rarely considered forum for exploring and debating not only the particular experiences of the pregnant mother-to-be, but the broader concerns of Japanese women about their bodies, their families, their life choices, and the meaning of motherhood for individuals and for Japanese society. It will be of interest to scholars of modern Japanese literature and women s history, as well as those concerned with gender studies, feminism, and popular culture in Japan and beyond. -- Amazon.com __Writing Pregnancy in Low Fertility Japan__ analyzes the literary representations of pregnancy and childbirth by Japanese women in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century—work notable not simply for the diversity of views it encompasses, but for the wide range of genres in which it has taken shape. These texts reveal complex political, personal, and social concerns, ranging from the role and nature of the woman’s body, to her place in the family, to the meaning of motherhood for individuals and for society. Their authors engage with these issues, drawing on a range of literary techniques and frameworks to talk about the role of motherhood and the impact that it has on their lives and their work. This "pregnancy literature" serves as an important yet rarely considered forum for exploring and debating not only the particular experiences of the pregnant mother-to-be, but the broader concerns of Japanese women about their bodies, their families, their life choices, and their aspirations. This text is a wide-ranging account of how women writers have made sense (and nonsense) of pregnancy in postwar Japan. While earlier authors such as Yosano Akiko had addressed the pain and emotional complexities of childbearing in their poetry and prose, the topic quickly moved into the literary shadows when motherhood became enshrined as a duty to state and sovereign in the 1930s and '40s. This reproductive imperative endured after World War II, spurred by a need to create a new generation of citizens and consumers for a new, peacetime nation. It was only in the 1960s, in the context of a flowering of feminist thought and activism, that more critical and nuanced appraisals of pregnancy and motherhood began to appear Cover Contents Acknowledgments Chapter One. Write Your Mother: Finding a Space for Pregnancy in Japanese Literature Chapter Two. Hey, You, Get Out of My Womb! Pregnancy As Invasion Chapter Three. And Baby Makes One: Pregnancy As Escape Chapter Four. Manual Labor: Pregnancy As Partnership Chapter Five. Riding the Wave: Facing Pain in the Pregnancy Manga Chapter Six. Em-bawdy-ing Pregnancy: Uchida Shungiku Takes on the Man Afterword Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z Offers a wide-ranging account of how women writers have made sense (and nonsense) of pregnancy in postwar Japan. In her fascinating study, Amanda C. Seaman introduces readers to a body of work notable for the wide range of genres employed by its authors, the many political, personal, and social concerns informing it, and the diverse creative approaches contained therein.