Date of Award
Spring 5-2016
Degree Name
Master of Arts (AM/MA)
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to analyze Setouchi Jakuchō’s biographical novel Beauty in Disarray (美は乱調にあり, 1966), through the lens of biographical writing as the author’s self-expression. Beauty in Disarray follows Seitō member Itō Noe from her adolescence in the spring of 1911 into her adulthood and ends abruptly with the “Hikage Teahouse Incident” in 1916, when Ōsugi Sakae, who would later go on to marry Itō, is stabbed by a jealous Kamichika Ichiko, another figured tied heavily to Seitō. Aside from the main character of Itō Noe, Beauty in Disarray also features several important members of Seitō and of the Japanese literary scene of the 1910s, such as Hiratsuka Raichō, and I include Setouchi’s treatment of these historical figures in my assessment of the work. Many literary figures featured in Beauty in Disarray were feminist and/or political activists, and I argue that it was Setouchi’s own interest in feminism and political activism that drew her to creating a novelization of the dramatic life of Itō Noe.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Rebecca Copeland
Committee Members
Marvin Marcus, Jamie Newhard
Recommended Citation
Newsome, Sara M., "Autobiography in Disarray: Setouchi Jakuchō’s Use of Biography as Self-Expression in Beauty in Disarray" (2016). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 700.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/700
Comments
Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K7D50K89