The Cultural Formation of Gender Ideology in Japan and Colonial Korea: The Tragic Heroine in Novels published in the 1920s and 1930s

LEE Seung Kyung
Doctoral Program,
Graduate School of Interdisciplinary information Studies
The University of Tokyo
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Key Words
modern novel, women's magazines, tragedy, new women, gender discourse, colonialism

This research attempts to overcome preceding studies that had regional and historical limits by presenting a new perspective about the relationship between gender and colonialism. It reveals the cultural formation of gender ideology in Japan and Colonial Korea in the 1920s and 1930s using feminist narratology and colonial studies to make clear the formation of the narrative of modern women's tragedy and the representation of women. Analyzing serial novels in women's magazine, such as Shufu-no-tomo and Shin-yosong, published in Japan and Colonial Korea respectively, reveals a gender discourse solidifying a stereotyped feminine image of the tragic heroine. This research is important because there are few studies that analyze texts from a comparative perspective to reveal the relationship between Japanese gender ideology and that of its colonies.

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