Date of Award

12-18-2024

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Author's Department

East Asian Languages and Culture: Japanese

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This dissertation examines portrayals of clothes made from wool, cotton and silk in works by three modern Japanese women writers: Hayashi Fumiko, Hasegawa Shigure, and Koizumi Kikue. By analyzing portrayals of clothing and textiles and contextualizing them in modern Japanese society, this dissertation aims to see how women writers used textiles and clothing as motifs in their work, how these textiles and clothing conveyed various aspects of their fictional characters, and how these textiles and clothing represented ideas such as modernity, nostalgia, and imperialism. This dissertation argues that textiles and clothes that are based on wool, silk, and cotton tell stories not only about the fabrics themselves but also about their wearers. Moreover, as modern Japan experienced rapid change both domestically and internationally, the wearers depicted in the texts were inevitably impacted by large-scale phenomena such as capitalism, social movements, imperialistic invasion, the Second World War, and the American Occupation.

Language

English (en)

Chair and Committee

Rebecca Copeland

Committee Members

Jamie Newhard; Ji-Eun Lee; Lynne Tatlock; Michiko Suzuki

Available for download on Thursday, December 17, 2026

Share

COinS