Literary Research On Kaori Ekuni

Kaori Ekuni(1964-)is a highly regarded contemporary female writer in Japan,who has enjoyed popularity since her debut in the late 1980s.She has maintained an astonishing creative momentum in the realms of novels,poetry collections,and translations of foreign picture books,making her a focal point of academic research.Alongside prominent authors such as Banana Yoshimoto(1964-)and Mitsuyo Kakuta(1967-),she is considered one of Japan’s three most important female writers.Against the backdrop of the Heisei era,Kaori Ekuni’s personal experiences of despair and solitude have been inextricably intertwined with her growth as a writer.Consequently,themes related to women’s love,family,and personal development have consistently been at the core of her literary pursuits.Kaori Ekuni perceptively captures the discomfort brought about by the era’s societal transformations and cultural patriarchy.Within this context,she creates an open space for gendered language and women’s poetics,where the body,discourse,and textual articulation take on significant roles.Through her portrayal of the emotional experiences of female protagonists within romantic relationships,family settings,and other social contexts,Kaori Ekuni presents the journey of female awakening amidst immersion and enlightenment amidst despair.Her works explore the reconciliation among the self,the ego,and the superego,depicting the active and arduous process through which women discover themselves,feel themselves,interpret themselves,and ultimately establish themselves,gradually constructing their subjectivity.It can be said that Kaori Ekuni,through her portrayal of women in the context of real-life female reference points,has created images of individual and collective female identities,conveying the sentiments and aspirations of contemporary women in a distinctive style.As a representative of female writers in the Heisei literary scene,Kaori Ekuni’s literature is undeniably an integral aspect of understanding both Heisei-era Japanese women’s literature and the development of Japanese literature as a whole.To date,the research on Kaori Ekuni’s literature in our country has spanned nearly three decades and has achieved certain results.However,apart from studies focusing on "characterization","creative concepts",and "romantic novels",comprehensive research on Kaori Ekuni’s life and work has yet to emerge.Therefore,the author of this study delves into the subject of Kaori Ekuni’s literary research with the intention of conducting a systematic examination,guided by the paradigm of feminist literary criticism.This examination will encompass two directions:"reading from a feminist perspective" and "reading about women".Through an in-depth interpretation and analysis,it aims to shed light on Kaori Ekuni’s literature from the perspectives of themes and artistic qualities.On one hand,using feminist theories,the study will center on her romantic novels,family ethics novels,and coming-of-age novels from the Heisei era,exploring the writer’s extraordinary sensibility and genius touch.It seeks to uncover the rich literary content within her works.On the other hand,through an examination of her aesthetic consciousness,writing techniques,and artistic expressions,the study will dissect the artistic qualities of Kaori Ekuni’s female writing.This paper is divided into seven sections.The introduction section provides a brief overview of Kaori Ekuni’s life and her literary work,elucidating the environment and conditions that contributed to the formation of her feminist ideas.Building upon a review of prior research,it points out the shortcomings in previous studies,which tend to emphasize "female solitude in romantic relationships" while neglecting the examination of "family perspectives" and "life philosophies".The introduction clarifies the origins,objectives,and significance of this paper’s chosen topic.Additionally,it outlines the research approach and methods employed in this paper and summarizes the innovative aspects of the study.The main body of this paper consists of five chapters.Chapters one to three primarily select ten influential novels by Kaori Ekuni from the Heisei era.Combining the author’s interviews and essays,these chapters delve into three literary themes in Kaori Ekuni’s literature:"love","family",and "growth".Chapter four and five mainly explore the artistic forms of Kaori Ekuni’s works,analyzing the literary artistry in her novels.Chapter one focuses on four representative romantic novels by Kaori Ekuni,exploring the themes of desire and love.The first section centers on "Twilight of the Late Summer"(2008),examining the protagonist Shina’s recollection of love and the contradictions,uncertainties,and inner turmoil in her love life,extracting the theme of female solitude and self-discovery in Kaori Ekuni’s literature.The second section revolves around the novel "Falling into the Evening"(1996)and the short story"Tropical Night"(2003),meticulously analyzing the mirror-like sisterly bonds and exclusive same-sex love depicted in the works,revealing the themes of female utopia and vulnerability in Kaori Ekuni’s portrayal of women.The third section,using the characters Kin and Taeko from "Rose Trees,Loquat Trees,Lemon Trees"(1999)as examples,explores the transformation of female recognition from a paternalistic perspective to matricide and the bodily practices of sexual satisfaction.It delves into the resilience of women in breaking through the moral constraints of patriarchy and their strong sense of self-awareness,examining Kaori Ekuni’s exploration of the value of emotional life.Chapter two places Kaori Ekuni’s family ethics novels within the framework of postmodern feminist perspectives,delving into the rebellion and reconstruction depicted in her works.The first section centers on the novel"Bones beneath the Kitchen Sink"(1996),focusing on the fundamental questioning of traditional patriarchy in Kaori Ekuni’s works.It reveals the institutional cage of family traditions and customs in patriarchal families,leading to Kaori Ekuni’s feminist critique of the "Phallus" within family ethics.The second section uses "Tokyo Tower"(2001)as an example to examine the deconstruction of traditional family models in Kaori Ekuni’s literature,analyzing the portrayal of marriage and justified extramarital affairs in her works.Simultaneously,it discusses the modern female images in Kaori Ekuni’s literature and their embodiment of female independence,elaborating on her deconstruction of the patriarchy.The third section focuses on the construction of new types of families in Kaori Ekuni’s literature,using the description of the new family model in the masterpiece "Twinkle Twinkle"(1991)to highlight Kaori Ekuni’s postmodern feminist ideas and her diverse gender advocacy and caring for others’ ideals.Chapter three provides a specific analysis of Kaori Ekuni’s coming-of-age novels after the millennium,with female self-growth as the main theme.It interprets the confinement and entanglement of women in their self-other relationships,reexamining the path of female self-construction and subjectivity.The first section uses the short story "Let Your Stomach Go Hungry"(2002)as an example and approaches it from an eco-feminist perspective,explaining the subjectivity of women in intimate relationships and exploring Kaori Ekuni’s utilization of the "eco-person" identity.The second section centers on "Left Bank"(2008),analyzing the self-breakthrough of female characters in Kaori Ekuni’s coming-of-age novels amidst self-other conflicts,reflecting her relentless exploration to realize female subjectivity construction.The third section,with "Their Occasions"(2019)at the center,closely examines the theme of taking control of one’s life decisions.It analyzes the "adventure of the young girls",showcasing Kaori Ekuni’s multifaceted interpretation of the new "Nora" character.Chapter four primarily explores Kaori Ekuni’s unique intertextual world constructed through the use of literary self-textual intertextuality,showcasing the elevation of her creative work in terms of literary artistry.The first section delves into the inherent intertextual relationship between music and textual language in Kaori Ekuni’s literature through "music intertextuality in the resonance of endings","music intertextuality driving plot momentum",and "music intertextuality in character imagery",depicting Kaori Ekuni’s auditory world.The second section focuses on Kaori Ekuni’s literary recipes in works combining "food and character" and "food and sexual intercourse" to investigate her constructed culinary kingdom in literature,both directly exploring the gastronomic world she constructs in her literature and delving deeply into her feminist writing secrets.The third section primarily examines the text-related elements of color and time-space in Kaori Ekuni’s literature,interpreting the rich poetic implications of her literary works.Chapter five investigates Kaori Ekuni’s literary creations within a broader artistic context.It explores Kaori Ekuni’s novel concepts and her interdisciplinary artistic practices,gradually peeling away the layers to delve into her aesthetic pursuits.It examines the interaction between her literary creation and painting,summarizing her unique aesthetic thoughts and highly innovative artistic literary discourse.The conclusion section summarizes the entire paper and draws conclusions.Through a deep analysis of the thematic aesthetics and the exploration of diverse literary and artistic practices,it becomes evident that Kaori Ekuni’s literary works embody profound feminist ideas and exhibit strong aesthetics and artistic appeal.Her works are characterized by their literary and artistic qualities.She should not be merely regarded as a female writer but as a feminist writer and a unique literary artist.This paper dialectically analyzes the thematic aesthetic implications of Kaori Ekuni’s literature,unearths its intrinsic interactive relationship with her literary texts,life experiences,and artistic achievements.By situating her literature in the context of"feminist trend",this paper closely examines her texts,revealing the profound feminist ideas running through her work.It also sheds light on Ekuni’s literary journey over three decades and identifies the unique aspects of her writing,addressing current research gaps.This research contributes to Ekuni’s scholarship in China and the broader field of Japanese women’s literature.