Contained in:
  • Il dono dell’airone
  • Edited by Luca Capponcelli, Diego Cucinelli, Chiara Ghidini, Matilde Mastrangelo, Rolando Minuti
Book Chapter

Donne che corrono sulla montagna. I primi romanzi di Tsushima Yūko (1947-2016)

  • Maria Teresa Orsi

A significant portion of Tsushima Yūko’s body of work, particularly her early novels that brought her fame – Chōji (Child of Fortune, 1978), Hikari no ryōbun (Territory of Light, 1979), Yama o hashiru onna (The Woman Running on the Mountain, 1980), and Danmari ichi (The Silent Traders, 1984) -- while incorporating easily recognisable autobiographical elements, extends the discourse beyond the realm of the ‘private novel’. These works delve into an examination of the paths women (not only Japanese) are compelled to traverse when rejecting the conformity enforced by a social environment that still clings to models that not even the second wave of feminism of the 1970s and 1980s managed to overcome. The protagonists are predominantly solitary women, driven by a desire to break free from the ‘obligation’ of forming a family, which remains a deeply conditioning necessity. They are keenly aware of the unspoken disapproval directed at divorced women who do not conform to the confines of their original households. Overlapping with this is a resolute yearning for psychological and social independence, a pursuit fraught with challenges yet pursued tenaciously. Within these narratives, Tsushima Yūko not only draws inspiration from her personal experiences but also expands upon the image of that central ‘self’ – the core of the story. She diversifies their experiences beyond the foundational substance and, most importantly, leaves room for imagination in the dual dimensions of individual dreams and the collective fantasy expressed through myths and legends.

  • Keywords:
  • Tsushima Yuko,
  • Feminism,
  • yamanba,
  • Single Mother,
  • Women and Myths in Literature,
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Maria Teresa Orsi

Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

  1. Orsi, Maria Teresa. a cura di. 1998. Fiabe giapponesi. Torino: Einaudi.
  2. Tsushima Yūko. 2021. Il figlio della fortuna (traduzione e postfazione di Maria Teresa Orsi). Pordenone: Safara.
  3. Tsushima Yūko. 1984a. Numa. Tokyo: Shinchōsha.
  4. Tsushima Yūko. 1984b. Danmari ichi, Tokyo: Shinchōsha.
  5. Tsushima Yūko, 1993. Hikari no ryōbun. Tokyo: Kōdansha.
  6. Tsushima Yūko. 2006. Yama o hashiru onna. Tokyo: Kōdansha.
  7. Yanagita, Kunio. 1948. Nihon mukashibanashi meii, Tokyo: Nihon hōso kyōkai.
  8. Seki, Keigo. 1979-80. Nihon mukashibanashi taisei. Tokyo: Kadokawa shoten.
  9. Seki, Keigo. 1992. Nihon no mukashibanashi, Tokyo: Iwanami bunko.
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  • Publication Year: 2024
  • Pages: 181-190
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2024 Author(s)

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  • Publication Year: 2024
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2024 Author(s)

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Donne che corrono sulla montagna. I primi romanzi di Tsushima Yūko (1947-2016)

Authors

Maria Teresa Orsi

Language

Italian

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0422-4.18

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Il dono dell’airone

Book Subtitle

Scritti in onore di Ikuko Sagiyama

Editors

Luca Capponcelli, Diego Cucinelli, Chiara Ghidini, Matilde Mastrangelo, Rolando Minuti

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

390

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0422-4

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0421-7

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0422-4

Series Title

Connessioni. Studies in Transcultural History

Series ISSN

2975-0393

Series E-ISSN

2975-0261

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