野上彌生子が描く大正期の新家庭と「主婦」 ‒女中物語「小指」と「渦」を中心として‒

Abstract

Among works Nogami Yaeko had published from Meilji to Taisho era, there are several ones of maids employed by her, which are 「Oyoshi」, 「Koyubi」, 「Uzu」.The evaluations of the works are divided into positive and critical one respectively: i) Yaeko’s uniquely elaborate observation based on sympathy for adolescent girls is excellent; ii) the mistress’s attitudes to maids are indifferent and premodern, and there privileges are expressed without any filtration. However, such a critical evaluation is derived from a careless decision based on limited observations of the work and unnoticed background and situation of the Taisho era. And it also seems to miss the Yaeko’s characteristic descriptions and therefore a true intention hidden in the works. This thesis attempts to consider the intentions of the works by revealing an identity of character creations including the heroine, a maid Kimi and the mistress, Soyoko, and continuousness of a story. Moreover, as a background from which Yaeko successively presented the works using the maid as a material at an early Taisho, the situation of the time in which a new middle class appeared should not be ignored. A meaning of the Yaeko’s ＜Maid Story＞　would be re-interpreted and its position re-established by considering maids’ roles in households and societies as well as relationship changes between maids and mistress, on the basis of newspapers including the 「Hujosinbun」, etc and magazine materials such as 「Hujinkoron」 and so on through which family lives can be briefly observed at that time.