A Desire for Gender Structure and Ambivalence on War: Fumiko Hayashi’s <i>The Front</i> and <i>Hokugan Butai</i>

LEE, Sanghyuk

doi:2019.8.1.151

The Journal of Japanese Language Literature Studies > Volume 8(1); 2019 > Article

Article

Border Crossings: The Journal of Japanese-Language Literature Studies 2019;8(1): 151-172.
doi: https://doi.org/10.22628/bcjjl.2019.8.1.151

A Desire for Gender Structure and Ambivalence on War: Fumiko Hayashi’s The Front and Hokugan Butai

Sanghyuk LEE

名古屋大学大学院文学研究科博士候補研究員

戦場の欲望をめぐるジェンダ――構造と二重性

Correspondence Sanghyuk LEE ,Email: riversh79@naver.com

Published online: 30 June 2019.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

To explore the structure of desires in the period of the Sino-Japan War, I analyze two wartime works by Fumiko Hayashi: Sensen and Hokugan butai. This analysis reveals how gender structure and hierarchy are linked to individual desires and clarifies the pattern of breaking at the point where desire is frustrated. The desire of Fumiko Hayashi is established on the hierarchy by various structures including gender, and she doesn’t desire identification to men but desires for superiority in female by these structures. However, this desire is fundamentally unsuccessful, and the object of desire is constantly replaced in the process. Because the individual desires a new object and is confused into thinking that desire is fundamental, and because the system dominates the chain process of this desire, the individual’s desire sustains its structure while taking on the structure of gender and war.
When Fumiko Hayashi went to the battlefield, she experienced the demolition of self-identity. This demolition appeared as “supplement”, “thanatos,” and “anxiety” in her literature. In order to overcome the demolition of self-identity, she strengthens sociality and at the same time expresses ambivalence, which can be expressed by the images of breaking point and duality. In the end, the ambivalence of Fumiko Hayashi has a deep relationship with the desire and mind, which is a mechanism that struggle to protect oneself. through this mechanism, the process of internalizing fascism is clarified.

Keywords: Fumiko Hayasi, Gender, Desire, Thanatos, Affect

キ―ワ―ド: 林芙美子, ジェンダー, 欲望, 欲望, 情動