Femininity, Self-Harm and Eating Disorders in Japan - Navigating Contradiction in Narrative and Visual Culture

This book examines the relationship between normative femininity and women's self-directed violence in contemporary Japanese culture including novels, artwork, TV dramas and news stories. The book analyses both well known Japanese culture such as Murakami Haruki's literary works as well as culture unavailable to non-Japanese readers.

List of contents

1. Introduction: Women and Mixed Messages Part I: Normativity 2. Defining Normativity: Femininity with a Long Leash 3. Teaming Up: Double and Multiples Characters 4. (De)subjectifying Her: Extended Characters 5. Doing it All: Transforming Characters Part II: Self-directed Violence 6. Repairing Fragmented Selves: Self-harm and Eating Disorders 7. Consuming the War in the Body: Developing Analytical Markers 8. Exposing Embedded Storylines: Battling Appetite, Desire and a Harmless Monster 9. Conclusions: Contradictive-femininity-as-doppelgänger Motif

About the author

Gitte Marianne Hansen a Lecturer in Japanese Studies at Newcastle University, UK. She holds a PhD in Japanese Studies from the Unversity of Cambridge, UK.

Summary

This book examines the relationship between normative femininity and women’s self-directed violence in contemporary Japanese culture including novels, artwork, TV dramas and news stories. The book analyses both well known Japanese culture such as Murakami Haruki’s literary works as well as culture unavailable to non-Japanese readers.

Additional text

"It is clear that for Hansen, ‘feminine’ is not a fixed position, but rather exists on a spectrum. She raises interesting points about the culturally-defined nature of what societies consider to be healthy or sick, questioning the norms which dictate that self-cutting and purging are pathologised, whilst cutting in the context of piercings or tattoos, or strict dieting, are thought healthy. She jumps, too, between different forms of cultural product: from anime to text, and from TV drama to visual art."
Charlotte Goff, The Japan Society

Product details

• Authors: Gitte Marianne Hansen, Gitte Marianne (Newcastle University Hansen, Hansen Gitte Marianne
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.06.2017
• EAN: 9781138502796
• ISBN: 978-1-138-50279-6
• No. of pages: 210
• Series: Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies; Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Education > Social education, social work; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries; Japan, History, Sociology, Cultural Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Regional Studies, LITERARY CRITICISM / Asian / Japanese, Humanities, Social issues & processes, Regional Studies, Literary studies: general, Regional / International studies, Gender studies: women, Social and ethical issues, Gender studies: women and girls, Medical Sociology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General