Accessing power and knowledge through women's sexual writing in modern Japan : education, recreation, and the R-18 Literary Prize
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Asian Studies, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Eshghi Furuzawa, Shirin
issued: 2024-07-10T15:33:36Z
issued: 2024
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: In the early 2000s, Japanese publisher Shinchōsha introduced the By Women For Women R-18 Literary Prize, Onna ni yoru onna no tame no R-18 bungakushō 女による女のためのR-18文学賞. This prize, which is administered by women editors and which is overseen by a panel of women judges, solicits women-authored sexual writing directed towards women readers. Within this dissertation, I examine five prize-winning stories and investigate whether they incorporate concepts and themes that are included in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education, which has been developed in line with Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) best practices, and with a view to advance women’s equity and empowerment. Using feminist theory, I also consider whether and how patriarchal processes have been challenged through the creation and dissemination of the texts. Through this process, I determine 1) whether this women-centred literary environment, created through a private publishing house, allows for the development of sexual writing that potentially subverts patriarchal systems of disempowerment, such as the current governmental and societal restrictions on the accessibility of sexual knowledge and sexual writing, including within libraries; and 2) whether the writing produced within this prize conveys sexual knowledge that potentially empowers women readers. In addition to reviewing the origin and scope of the R-18 Literary Prize, I also provide a contextualizing overview of Japanese and global sexuality education practices and consider the patriarchal pressures on literary expression vis-à-vis women’s sexuality in Japan by looking back at the publication history of literary works with sexual content for and about women. While the prize stories examined here have a tendency to replicate hegemonic ideas of sexuality, the production of the stories is also empowering. Each story touches on topics highlighted in the U…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/88601
note: ACCESSING POWER AND KNOWLEDGE THROUGH WOMEN’S SEXUAL WRITING IN MODERN JAPAN: EDUCATION, RECREATION, AND THE R-18 LITERARY PRIZE by SHIRIN ESHGHI FURUZAWA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Asian Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) July 2024 © Shirin Eshghi Furuzawa, 2024 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: Accessing Power and Knowledge Through Women’s Sexual Writing in Modern Japan: Education, Recreation, and the R-18 Literary Prize submitted by Shirin Eshghi Furuzawa in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies Examining Committee: Sharalyn Orbaugh, Professor, Asian Studies, UBC Supervisor Christina Laffin, Associate Professor, Asian Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Ayaka Yoshimizu, Assistant Professor, Asian Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Eric Meyers, Associate Professor, School of Information, UBC University Examiner Heather O’Brien, Professor, School of Information, UBC University Examiner Rebecca Copeland, Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Washington University in St. Louis External Examiner Additional Supervisory Committee Members: Joshua S. Mostow, Professor, Asian Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract In the early 2000s, Japanese publisher Shinchōsha introduced the By Women For Women R-18 Literary Prize, Onna ni yoru onna no tame no R-18 bungakushō 女による女のための R-18 文学賞. This prize, which is administered by women editors and which is overseen by a panel of women judges, solicits women-authored sexual writing directed towards women readers. Within this dissertation, I examine five prize-winning stories and investigate whether they incorporate concepts and themes that are included in the Uni…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2024-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0444119
language: eng
degree discipline: Asian Studies
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Orbaugh, Sharalyn
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/88601