Paper short abstract:

Morisaki Kazue (1927-) is a writer now being rediscovered. In the 1960s, in addition to her well known reports, she wrote various works on women's issues. Without any access to gender studies, her style strayed between poetry, theoretical reflections and letters, that we propose to analyse.

Paper long abstract:

My presentation will focus on the writings of Morisaki Kazue (1927-) from the late 50s to the early 70s. Her works range from poetry, to articles or essays on contemporary issues. She wrote about working class people and about the situation of the oppressed ones, especially women.

Some of her reports, including The ladies gone abroad, (Karayuki-san, 1976), one of the earliest reports on Japanese prostitutes sent abroad from the late 19th century to the early 20th, are still popular today. However, in the 1960s, Morisaki Kazue was better known for her works on women, which somehow exceeded the generic framework of report : The possession of non possession : notes on gender and social classes (Hishoyû no shoyû, sei to kaikyû oboegaki, 1963), Refreshing lacks (Sawayakana ketsujo, poetry, 1964), The third gender : the far-off eros (Daisan no sei, harukanaru erosu, 1965), An imagined wedding with the Motherland (Haha no kuni tono gensô-kon, 1970) …

These works were written at a period of time during which neither gender studies nor subaltern studies were in fashion. Morisaki's style strayed here between reportage and poetry, between theoretical reflection and daily notes or letters. Her style was then characterized by the use of enigmatic metaphorical formulations, elaborating on trivial images from everyday life.

Neither experts nor general readers fairly and impartially evaluated these writings. In addition to her elusive styles, the peculiarity of her motivation at the base of her works, such as a sense of atonement for belonging to the ruling class before the war, probably contributed to this lack of fair recognition.

As gaps widen between classes, more attention is being paid to the relationship between literature and reality, and her works are now being rediscovered. The recognition from feminists is just the beginning. In this presentation, we will discuss how she established herself as a writer, from the period when, based on a villege of coal mines in Kyûshû, she published the magazine "Village of the circles" (Sâkuru-mura) with Ueno Eishin and Tanikawa Gan, and "Letters without signatures" (Mumei Tsûshin) alone, to the 70s, when her writings acquired more stability.