전시하 일본여성문학자와 아시아, 그리고 전쟁책임

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is not to evaluation the literary qualities of Japanese literary women, but to consider the war guilt about Asia during the wartime, by analyzing the discourse and representative for Asia, as shown in their writing work for the war collaboration, which was called Japanese literary women’s cultural patriotism. Japanese literary women belonging to the kakayaku-butai invoked aspiration for the continent, spreading the discourses of immigration and patriotism, with a view to conquer China and Manchria. In addition, they wrote works for realizing the policy for recreating imperial subjects in Taiwan and Joseon, to secure the military power necessary for the war against U.S., and therefor, to gradually occupy the Southern Islands, after Japan began to engage in the Asian/the Pacific War. The Japanese aspiration shifted from for the continent to for the Southern Islands. Such Japanese literary women’s activity led the policy for recreating imperial subjects in Taiwan and Joseon, as it was adjusted for the contemporary discourses for the war collaboration. Japanese literary women consequently aimed to construct discourses for creating ‘Imperial Soldiers’ to be mobilized for the war and to make perfect and loyal Japanese people by actively using the mixed-blood discourse based on Naeseonilche (Japan and Korea are One). In doing so, they heavily stressed the roles of Japanese, colonial and occupied territory’s women. The Japanese literary women provided a driving force for supporting the war at the cost of Asia during the wartime, by vividly showing the battlefields and helping form the sense of unity with the home front through a series of activities for war collaboration, including battlefield inspection, lectures and writing. The Japanese women’s literature and Japanese literary women are not thought to be free from the war guilt about Asia.