식민지 근대화와 여성 노동의 재편 — 만주국 여성작가 작품 속 여성의 직업을 중심으로

Abstract

This study explores how women’s social participation and labor were reorganized within the colonial modernity of Manchukuo, focusing on the literary works of female writers. During this period, modernization and industrialization driven by imperial Japan transformed society, positioning women as both subjects of modern education and instruments of colonial ideology. To analyze the multilayered representations of women shaped by this contradictory context, the research categorizes female characters in Manchukuo women’s literature into three groups according to their education and occupation: intellectual and professional women, women in clerical or service sectors, and those engaged in physical or sexual labor. The analysis reveals that despite class differences, all of these women remain confined within the colonial gender hierarchy, suffering emotional and structural oppression. Their labor, rather than symbolizing liberation, exposes the deceptive logic of colonial modernization that reduced women to subordinated or commodified bodies. These narratives thus unveil the contradictions of colonial modernity and its gendered dimensions. By re-evaluating Manchukuo women’s literature as a cultural text articulating the intersection of empire, gender, and labor, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of colonial modernity in East Asia and its complex impact on women’s subjectivity.