가와바타 야스나리 『손바닥 소설』론 ‒1940년대 여성 표상‒

Abstract

In this paper, we focused on the women of the 1940s and analyzed them, focusing on the two parts “Pomegranate” and “Patch” from Kawabata’s “Palm Novel.” “Pomegranate” can be said to be a work that depicts the love that secretly but strongly took root in Kimiko’s heart despite her brief encounter with Keikichi using the ‘pomegranate fruit’ as a medium. Moreover, Kimiko’s “sad joy” overlapped with her memories of her mother’s combing with her dead father, making her experience with Keikichi akin to marital affection. In this way, Kawabata tried to convey a calm sense of happiness to people by portraying her healthy attitude toward life, using a Japanese woman as the main character who steadfastly defends the rear as well as on the battlefield even in the extreme conditions of war. In “Patch of a Cloth,” which summons her memories, the scene begins with the main character, Miyako, immersing herself in her old memories while fixing the juban (襦袢, undergarment for kimono) she wore around the age of 13 or 14. She estimates that Miyako is currently over 21 years old, and Miyako’s choice to go against the social trend of ‘marriage and patriotism’, which requires young women in the future to get married and have children, is a reflection of a woman trying to maintain a little happiness despite the oppression of humanity. It reflects the situation. She can be said to be a work that touches people’s hearts in a sorrowful way, as if she represents the women in the rear who silently wait for their lovers. It can be seen that the consciousness of writer Kawabata, who was strongly conscious of the reality of war in the 1940s but was fascinated by the women’s mental strength and beauty, is also reflected.