Despite its initial success, the 1939 novel Hana to heitai by Hino Ashihei – the most famous war literature writer in wartime Japan – was underestimated in the post-war years and dismissed as trivial and naïve, tinged as it is with Imperial propaganda. In this paper, I question this view by discussing the socio-political significance of the work at the time of its publication and its role in shaping public opinion. I will also carry out a close reading of its content aimed at bringing to the surface Hino’s underlying narratives regarding the war in China. I contend that the significance of the novel is twofold: on the one hand, it offered a narrative of the war with China that was to some extent new, since it focuses on civil contexts and portrays the Japanese invasion as a «peace-keeping» mission. On the other hand, it provided a gendered view of the war that was based on Chinese female characters and that envisaged in the relationship between Japanese soldiers and young Chinese women a future of co-prosperity and friendly cooperation of Japan and China.

Gendering the war : the colonial gaze in Hino Ashihei's Hana to heitai / Romagnoli, Stefano. - In: RIVISTA DEGLI STUDI ORIENTALI. - ISSN 0392-4866. - STAMPA. - LXXXIX:Nuova serie(2017), pp. 141-162. [10.19272/201603804009]

Gendering the war : the colonial gaze in Hino Ashihei's Hana to heitai

ROMAGNOLI, STEFANO
2017

Abstract

Despite its initial success, the 1939 novel Hana to heitai by Hino Ashihei – the most famous war literature writer in wartime Japan – was underestimated in the post-war years and dismissed as trivial and naïve, tinged as it is with Imperial propaganda. In this paper, I question this view by discussing the socio-political significance of the work at the time of its publication and its role in shaping public opinion. I will also carry out a close reading of its content aimed at bringing to the surface Hino’s underlying narratives regarding the war in China. I contend that the significance of the novel is twofold: on the one hand, it offered a narrative of the war with China that was to some extent new, since it focuses on civil contexts and portrays the Japanese invasion as a «peace-keeping» mission. On the other hand, it provided a gendered view of the war that was based on Chinese female characters and that envisaged in the relationship between Japanese soldiers and young Chinese women a future of co-prosperity and friendly cooperation of Japan and China.
2017
Japanese war literature; colonial gaze; representations of China
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Gendering the war : the colonial gaze in Hino Ashihei's Hana to heitai / Romagnoli, Stefano. - In: RIVISTA DEGLI STUDI ORIENTALI. - ISSN 0392-4866. - STAMPA. - LXXXIX:Nuova serie(2017), pp. 141-162. [10.19272/201603804009]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/964891
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