Being Gaijin and being female in the Sakoku culture of Japan
Subtitle: the theme of cultural exile in Meira Chand, Kazuo Ishiguro and Pico Iyer.
Published: 2004
Language: eng
Number of pages: 150
Description: This thesis argues that three hybrid authors---Meira Chand, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Pico Iyer---writing about Japan express their sense of exile from Japan's exclusionist culture by depicting the condition of Japanese women. Presenting alternative visions of exile, The Gossamer Fly, A Pale View of Hills, and The Lady and the Monk reflect different perceptions of alienation. Chand shows the extreme marginalization suffered by a mixed-race female child within Japan; Ishiguro writes about exile from Japan in terms of displacement and death; and Iyer evinces the isolation he faces in Japan which prompts a unique journey of self-discovery where he seeks a connection with the alienating environment he has voluntarily sought to make "home". All three writers, however, focus on the condition of women in Japan. Because to write about women under Japanese patriarchy is to go to the heart of what is foreign, monolithic, stratified, and menacing about Japan.
Notes: Adviser:  Chelva Kanaganayakam.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2004.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 43-03, page: 0688.

MICR copy on microfiche (2 microfiches).