Synopses & Reviews
Women have made many important contributions to Japanese literature since the Heian period (794-1192), when Murasaki Shikibu wrote her prose masterpiece, The Tale of Genji. Even earlier, though documentation is scant, women actively participated in Japanese letters as poets. This reference is a guide to the work of Japanese women writers from centuries ago to the present day. The volume includes 58 alphabetically arranged biographical and critical profiles of these women.
The book profiles women writers who are considered mainstream writers in Japan and who have attracted attention in the West, chiefly through translations of their works and critical scholarship on their writings. Each entry discusses the subject's life, career, major works, and works in English translation. A bibliography concludes each article. While most of the women are poets, novelists, or authors of classical narrative fiction, the book also includes entries for premodern diarists, modern dramatists, television script writers, and movie scenario writers. An extensive bibliography and chronology conclude the volume.
Review
Well planned and executed with illuminating, detailed discussions of fifty-eight authors, Japanese Women Writers is an excellent book. An impressive accomplishment, an indispensable resource for anyone interested in Japanese women writers and their history. A book not only to be used as a reference but to be read.World Literature Today
Review
Recommended for college and public libraries.ARBA 95
Review
This fascinating book introduces 58 of Japan's women writers through essays written by leading scholars who discuss the writer's life, career and works, with special attention given to the ones whose works have been translated....a specialized reference took and one which unlocks a particularly important and interesting field.New Asia Review
Review
...belongs in every library and cultural center...will not only inform and entertain you, but can reveal a whole new sphere of writing. This unique guide opens another world to English-language readers, one long overdue for international attention.The New Canadian
Synopsis
""This reference work is a welcome addition to the rapidly expanding interest within Japanese studies, as well as more generally, in women writers. The Japan specialist and the novice alike can enjoy these essays." Choice
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [505]-508) and index.
About the Author
CHIEKO I. MULHERN is a Professor of Japanese Studies at Fukuoka Jogakuin College, and was a Professor of Japanese and Comparative Literature at the University of Illinois until 1992.
Table of Contents
Abutsu-ni (Nun Abutsu)
Ariyoshi-Sawako
Ben no naishi
Eifukumonin
Enchi Fumiko
Fujiwara Michitsuna's Mother
Fujiwara Shunzei's Daughter
Go-Fukakusain Nijo
Harada Yasuko
Hashida Sugako
Hayashi Fumiko
Hayashi Kyoko
Higuchi Ichiyo
Hirabayashi Taiko
Hiratsuka Raicho
Ise
Izumi Shikibu
Junii Tameko
Kanai Mieko
Koda Aya
Kometani Fumiko
Kurahashi Yumiko
Meio Masako
Miura Ayako
Miyamoto Yuriko
Mori Michiyo
Mori Reiko
Mori Yoko
Mukoda Kuniko
Murasaki Shikibu
Nakatsukasa no naishi
Nogami Yaeko
Oba Minako
Okamoto Kanoko
Ono no Komachi
Ota Yoko
Saegusa Kazuko
Sanuki no suke
Sei Shonagon
Setouchi Harumi
Shibaki Yoshiko
Shiraishi Kazuko
Sono Ayako
Sugawara Takasue's Daughter
Tamura Toshiko
Tanabe Seiko
Tanaka Sumie
Tomioka Taeko
Tsuboi Sakae
Tsumura Setsuko
Ui Einjeru
Uno Chiyo
Wada Natsuto
Yamada Eimi
Yamamoto Michiko
Yamazaki Toyoko
Yosano Akiko
Yoshida Tomoko