Matthis Rouch Gender perspectives in Enchi Fumikos Masks, the creation of a non male-centric female Otherness.

Enchi Fumiko is often seen as a typical symbol of jory bungakaku, or !omen literature" in #apan. $his ima%e is partly the product of the conte&t a%ainst !hich the author !as !ritin%' the fi&ation of %endered separation of the public and private spheres in the $aish( and )h(!a period, and the continuation of these divisions in spite of the *+,- constitution, supposed to end %ender-based social differences. $he first part of this essay !ill therefore e&amine ho! Masks, thematically and stylistically, as !ell as in its pro.ect of resistance to patriarchal values !hich re.ect non-maternal !omen as /others, fits in the so-called cate%ory of !omen literature". )econdly, this essay !ill sho! that more than the mere e&pression of resistance or criticism, the use of spirit possession in Masks reveals the search for the definition of a female identity outside the male ima%inary' an otherness" !hich finds its ori%ins in the dan%erous !omen of 0eian literature and 1oh plays. 2et, for Enchi this otherness found in classical literature is still defined in male-centric ima%ination. Masks %oes further and presents a modern approach to these dan%erous !omen, in !hich they become interiori3ed sub.ects rather than ob.ects of male fantasy and desire. $his moderni3ation, combined !ith the presentation of plural !omen identities, succeeds in creatin% a ne! female /otherness !hich escapes patriarchal values. $he first part of this essay !ill be concerned !ith Masks position !ithin !omen literature" and as such its 4ualities in terms of resistance to patriarchal values. 0o!ever, a fore!ord about !omen literature" is necessary. Jory bungaku, as a literary cate%ory in #apan, has had contradictory implications for modern !omen !riters. On one hand it has become an institution facilitatin% the reco%nition of literature by !omen !riters throu%h a!ards and ma%a3ines, and as such can be said to counter the influence of the male literary bundan and critics. 2et at the same time, it fosters the ima%e of a some!hat unified literature by !omen !riters, as a separate cate%ory from mainstream male literature. $his is essay !ill therefore use the term !omen literature" in a critical manner, tryin% to avoid characteri3ations tendin% to i%nore the operation of the specific social context in favor of an

unchan%in% standard based simply upon !hat is seen as a biological/psychological constant." $here are multiple reasons for adoptin% such an approach. Firstly, it allo!s to break the myth of a unified and coherent jory bungaku !hich !ould be the continuation of the 0eian !omen literature. 5lthou%h 0eian !omen literature clearly had an impact on modern literature, this impact has not been limited to !omen literature' the 0eian confession can indeed be seen as the predecessor of the modern 6-novel, a %enre supposedly dominated by male !riters. )econdly, it allo!s for the reco%nition of the diversity of modern !omen literature' the so-called feminine 4ualities of 0eian !omen !riters !as the product of a socio-cultural conte&t !hich ended !ith that period, and this particular femininity can therefore not be applied to modern !omen literature. 7reakin% this supposedly unifyin% factor therefore thro!s li%ht on the diversity of modern !omen literature, defyin% strict cate%ori3ation. Finally, this approach, !hile stressin% the importance of socio-cultural and political conte&ts, does not deny alto%ether re.ect a link bet!een %ender and discursive practice." $herefore, !hile re.ectin% !omen literature" as a biased construction in #apanese modern literature, this essay poses the e&amination of narratives by women writers in a modern context as a si%nificant domain of en4uiry. $his first part !ill therefore turn to the e&amination of Enchis position in such a conte&t, in terms of resistance a%ainst patriarchal values. Firstly, it can be observed that Masks possesses many elements definin% modern jory bungaku as a movement, in its style and approach to narration. 5s 8ernon remarks, modern !omen !riters focus on the human livin% condition of their characters, or in other !ords on the conte&t of plot-related events, actions, and relationships" rather than their aesthetici3ation. $his feature, characteri3ed by other critics as an observative" or mimetic-

representational" 4uality, is present at many instances in Masks, as revealed in the presentation of characters. For e&ample, 2asuko is immediately presented in terms of family relationships by the narrator' 2asuko !as the !ido! of Mieko $o%an(s late son, 5kio. $heir marria%e had lasted barely a year before 5kio !as killed suddenly in an avalanche on Mount Fu.i." $his presentation in terms of family relationships is also applied to the male characters 6buki, married !ith children, and Mikame, bachelor, and are reflected in their potential position vis-9-vis 2asuko. $his focus on relationships, as it also includes love affairs, can be said to be at the ori%in of the element of popularity found in Masks $his element, typically thou%ht of as the use of illicit relationships and rivalry in love, can be observed in 6bukis relationship !ith 2asuko and his rivalry !ith Mikame, as a conversation bet!een the t!o

men reveals'
!hen the li%hts came on, you !ere holdin% her hand, !erent you: Mikame blurted the !ords out clumsily, eyes averted, in a sudden sho! of emotion that 6buki found not in the least surprisin%, a!are as he !as that Mikame, too, !as in love !ith 2asuko".

$he use of a plot-focused approach to%ether !ith popular elements and a concern !ith familial bonds are all characteristics of jory bungaku, therefore placin% Masks !ithin the movement. 2et to interpret these elements as the e&pression of !omen literary 4ualities !ould be a mere tautolo%y. $he reason for their use in many modern !omen narratives is because they constitute !hat 6 !ill call the first device of resistance", i.e. the description of a patriarchal order for the purpose of revealin% its oppressive 4ualities and its debilitatin% effects. $his device of resistance throu%h description, or passive denunciation, is present in the past of Mieko !ho endured the relationship of her husband !ith his mistress 5%uri. $his presentation of familial bonds as a trap and a locus of patriarchal oppression is very similar to that of $omos situation in !he "aiting #ears, in !hich family is summed up as an unfeelin%, hard and unassailable fortress." Masks ho!ever %oes further than passive resistance to patriarchal oppression, throu%h the use of t!o other devices of resistance. $he first one is the reversal of %ender roles !ithin the patriarchal order, and informs Miekos scheme of ven%eance. Miekos scheme of obtainin% a %randson via a matrilineal line of blood flo!in% from her and throu%h 0arume is indeed the reversal of the concept of the borro!ed !omb" for males to obtain an heir. 1ot only does this place Mieko in a position of po!er, it also presents men as mere ob.ects from !hich to e&tract the seed of life." 6nterestin%ly, Masks presents other similar reversals of %ender positions, the most obvious of !hich is the delivery of the masks $% no onna" ' in !hat seems to mirror 0arumes production of a son, 2akushi.i $oe, the dau%hter of the o!ner of the mask collection, rather than his son, delivers the precious ob.ect to Mieko. 5s these instances reveal, Masks therefore presents active resistance to the patriarchy throu%h the reversal of its characteristic %ender positions. $he second active device of resistance is another reversal, that of cultural values implied by a patriarchal order. $his consists in findin% a positive value in ;!omens< = identification as ob.ect.", rather than treatin% the ob.ect as a victim. $his device can be observed in 2asukos position vis-9-vis both the male characters and Mieko. 6ndeed, 2asuko finds a positive value in bein% vie!ed as an ob.ect by both 6buki and Mikame in that she utili3es this male

%a3e to manipulate them. On another level, it can be said that 2asuko is ob.ectivi3ed by Mieko too in bein% her medium. Mieko uses 2asukos body to carry out her scheme, but 2asuko does not re.ect this role' on the contrary, she feels satisfaction in bein% Miekos ob.ect' 0avin% a part to play in this scheme of yours, Mother, means more to me than the love of any man." $hus, Masks, to%ether !ith a passive denunciation of patriarchy, uses t!o devices of active resistance challen%in% %ender positions and cultural values in a patriarchal system. 5s such, it can clearly be placed in a movement of modern !omen literature subversive of patriarchy. >hile some critics have .ud%ed Masks incomplete in its resistance in that its active devices of resistance depend on an element of fantasy rather than on reality ? in this case spirit possession ? 6 !ill no! turn to ho! on the contrary this element allo!s Enchi in Masks to create a ne! and non malebased female otherness. >hereas resistance to patriarchy mentioned earlier, by its mere opposition to it, is inscribed in a patriarchal vision, spirit possession and the concept of dan%erous !omen" allo!s Enchi to escape this male-centered ima%inary. $he analysis of the concept of dan%erous !omen" and ho! it fits in !ith the creation of a non-patriarchal female otherness in Masks !ill necessitate the consideration of socio-cultural conte&ts, as mentioned in the openin% of this essay. 6ndeed, !hile Mieko, in her essay &n account of the 'hrine in the (ields constructs a direct link bet!een herself and lady Roku.( of )enji monogatari as bein% archetypes of mens eternal fears, this identification as dan%erous !omen" hides the difference bet!een them. 5s @ornyets observes, the literary dan%erous !oman corresponds to !hat feminist theorists have described as the repressed constitutive /dark side of a set of binaries that produce the male sub.ect as the norm and !oman as none&istent." Follo!in% this dichotomy, dan%erous !omen" in classical tropes are aberrant and e&cluded !omen retired from society, takin% the form in literature of the yamamba, Aa man-eatin% female demonB, or possessive spirits as in the case of lady Roku.(. >hat is important here is that this otherness is completely male-centric' the female other is either a re.ected or an attractive ob.ect of se&ual desire. $he dan%er she represents confirms her position as an ob.ect' lady Roku.( indeed does not !illfully possess Gen.is !ife 5oi, and is surprised and dis%usted by her o!n livin% spirit, a proof of her passivity. 5nother element revealin% the male-centric ima%inary informin% the character of lady Roku.( is the tar%et of her spirits !rath' rather than tormentin% Gen.i, responsible for her sufferin%, she possesses her rival, lady 5oi. 5ll these elements point to a sharp

contrast !ith spirit possession as it appears in Masks* Mieko indeed !illfully and consciously recurs to spirit possession, performin% her scheme rather than endurin% it, and the aim of this scheme, rather than the destructin% of a !oman rival, is the enhancement of !omen po!er throu%h the continuation of a matrilineal blood line. >hat Mieko sees in Cady Roku.( is therefore a pro.ection of herself, and represents a moderni3ation by Enchi of the concept of the dan%erous !oman". $he first step of this moderni3ation can be said to have taken place in Oba Minakos $he )mile of the Mountain >itch", !ho for the first time e&amines dan%erous !omen" in terms other than the creation of mens fear and desire' in this narrative she indeed in4uires about the ori%in of these !omen, comin% to the conclusion that the various fi%ures of yamamba are the result of the oppression of patriarchy' their destinies are bleak" and the reason they become yamamba is because of the bitterness caused by spendin% their lives servin% males". $he second step in this modernist transformation of the !omen /other !as their reshufflin% from passive, victim characters, to central all po!erful ones, from erotic ob.ects" to narratin% sub.ects." $his transformation is clearly performed in Masks, in !hich the plot in informed and centered on Mieko and 2asuko, t!o dan%erous !omen !ho consciously utili3e their po!ers, rather than bein% passively defined as re.ected others. 6n this perspective, it is possible to affirm that in Masks, Enchi succeeds in creatin% a female identity !hich escapes a male-centric ima%inary. 7efore tryin% to specify the content of this modern female otherness, let us concretely illustrate these theoretical constructions in Masks. $his can firstly be achieved by takin% a look at the characters of Mieko and 2asuko. 1ot only do they constitute narrative sub.ects" !hose interiority informs the plot, their three-dimensional 4uality clearly contrasts !ith the superficiality of dan%erous !omen" as male pro.ections of desire. 6ndeed, 2asuko, not a mere ob.ect in Miekos scheme, sho!s si%ns of !antin% to escape her control and leavin% the $o%an( house. Mieko too, rather than an unfeelin% cruel !oman, has pan%s of conscience in her scheme of usin% 0arumes body, as sho!n in the sin%le tear she sheds. 2et, Enchis play on perspectives of narration reveals even more convincin%ly the %ap bet!een the self-created female identity and the male-centric ima%inary. $his is achieved throu%h narratin% Masks principally throu%h the male perspective of 6buki and Mikame, and ridiculin% their male-centric construction of the female ima%es as sho!n in this passa%e focusin% on 0arume'
>hat !ould Mikame say if he could see her no!: 5%ainst the pallor of her face, lusterless and empty as a blank !hite !all, her bi% dark eyes and heavy eyebro!s stood out e&actly like those of an ukiyo-e style beauty dra!n in 6ndia ink

on fine !hite @hinese paper."

$his ironical supposition of Mikames thou%ht is a clear mockin% of male aesthetici3ation and depiction of 0arume as a se&ual ob.ect. )imilar constructions appear in 6bukis speech, as in one of his lectures about spirit possession' the body of a medium in a trance comes to seem the very incarnation of se&"D or in his fantasy of a lesbian relationship bet!een 2asuko and Mieko. Enchis re.ection of such male-centric constructions of female otherness is revealed by the fact that in spite of all their pro.ections, 6buki and Mikame are basically i%norant of the scheme they are dra!n into, and learn only later the e&istence of 0arume, her illness, and her pre%nancy. Furthermore, the only clues they %et about the real nature of the !omen they are confronted to are via non male-biased elements' Miekos o!n essay, and neutral information from a doctor and a detective. $hese elements thus illustrate and prove the creation of a ne! female otherness by dan%erous !omen" as narratin% sub.ects in Masks. Finally, 6 !ill close this essay by tryin% to specify the content of this non male-biased female otherness as defined in Masks. >hile it is difficult to infer a precise content to this otherness, elements in the narrative point to the importance of pluralism and the notion of a female community. $his notion of pluralism is firstly illustrated by the sheer diversity of female personalities in the novel' the diversity and varyin% personalities of the three main female prota%onists, Mieko, 2asuko, and 0arume, are emphasi3ed by the association of different masks to their personality, each correspondin% to one section of the narrative. $his plurality of female personalities is even %reater !hen takin% into account secondary female characters, such as 6bukis !ife )adako and Miekos late husbands mistress 5%uri, representative of less sophisticated and more direct action and ven%eanceD as !ell as Miekos loyal maid. 2et pluralism is also found at an individual level, as can be seen in the e&ample of Mieko. )he indeed represents both the Osan and Eoharu of 'hinju ten no &mojima, as sho!n by her endurance of patriarchal oppression under her husband and her later e&pression of emotion throu%h spirit possessionD as !ell as her use of both poetry and spiritism as outlets of this oppression. Furthermore, rather than a mere .u&taposition of dichotomies, Mieko is the locus of their fusion' this can be seen in the fusion of literary e&pression and spiritism as outlets of oppression in Miekos essay &n account of the 'hrine in the (ields, !here the former builds to!ards the latter. Finally, Masks is fascinatin% in that the ne! otherness it creates, transcendin% pluralism at an individual level, seems to be constituted by a female community in !hich individuality disappears. $his otherness as female community appears specifically

throu%h the linka%e by blood of the main female characters, and even in a literal sense of blood, as sho!n by the mutual bleedin% of 0arume durin% her menstruations , dra!in% blood from 2asukos fin%er by bitin% it. $hese are but specific e&amples, but the narrative as a !hole, throu%h the themes of maskin% as !ell as possession and the medium creates a notion of blurred and overlappin% individualities. Moreover, not only transcendin% the individual, this female otherness also transcends social conte&t and time, as sho!n by the identification of Mieko and lady Roku.(. $hus, in Masks, Enchi succeeds in creatin% a non-patriarchal female otherness, of !hich the specificity lies in its pluralism and blurred individuality in a time and conte&t free community of !omen. $his essay, in an effort to analy3e %ender perspectives in Enchis !ork Masks, has e&amined three different levels of female /otherness, and resistance to patriarchal values. Firstly, the narrative has been e&plored as inscribed in patriarchal values throu%h devices of active and passive resistance to it, situatin% it !ithin the modern !omen literature movement. $he si%nificance of the otherness of dan%erous !omen" both in its classical and modern articulations has then shed li%ht on Enchis formulation of a non male-centric female identity, in !hich !omen are placed as narratin% sub.ects rather than e&cluded ob.ects, as revealed by three-dimensional female characteri3ation and the play on %endered narrative perspectives. Finally, pluralism, and the !omen community transcendin% individuality and socio-cultural conte&ts, have been identified as the content of this non male-biased female otherness. More than a statement of the patriarchal oppression of modern #apanese society, Masks thus succeeds in creatin% a specific female identity, unifyin% multiple social conte&ts and fi%ures of resistance. 7iblio%raphy' Foris G 7ar%en , )pirit Gossession in $he @onte&t of Framatic E&pressions of Gender conflict' $he 5oi Episode of the Gen.i mono%atari", +arvard Journal of &siatic 'tudies, 8ol. ,H 1o.*, #une *++H Foris G. 7ar%en, $!in 7lossoms on a )in%le 7ranch' $he @ycle of Retribution in Onnamen", Monumenta ,ipponica, 8ol. ,I 1o. J, )ummer *++* 6n Rebecca @opeland K Esperan3a Ramire3-@hristensen eds., !he (ather-.aughter /lot, Japanese 0iterary "omen and the 0aw of the (ather, Lniversity of 0a!aii press, 0onolulu JMM*' Rebecca @opeland K Esperan3a Ramire3-@hristensen, 1ntroduction Eileen 7. Mikals-5dachi, chapter -, 2nchi (umiko (emale sexuality and the &bsent (ather 1ina @ornyet3, .angerous "omen, .eadly "ords, /hallic (antasy and Modernity in !hree Japanese

"riters, )tanford Lniversity Gress, @alifornia, *+++ Enchi Fumiko, Masks, translated by #uliet >inters @arpenter, @harles E. $uttle @ompany 6nc., Rutland, *+H, 7arbara 0artley, >ritin% the 7ody of the Mother' 1arrative moments in $sushima 2uko, 5riyoshi )a!ako and Enchi Fumiko", Japanese 'tudies, 8ol. JN, 1o. N, Fecember JMMN 6n Gaul Gordon )chalo! K #anet 5. >alker eds., !he "omans +and, )ender and !heory in Japanese "omens "riting, )tandford Lniversity Gress, )tandford @alifornia, *++I )chalo! K >alker, 1ntroduction Oba Minako, chapter *, 'pecial &ddress* "ithout 3eginning, "ithout 2nd #oan E. Ericson, chapter N, !he 4rigins of the 5oncept of 6"omens 0iterature7 )haralyn Orbau%h, chapter ,, !he 3ody in 5ontemporary Japanese "omens (iction Foris G. 7ar%en, chapter O, !ranslation and 8eproduction in 2nchi (umikos 6& bond for two lifetimes 9 gleanings7 @hieko M 5ri%a, chapter **, !ext :ersus 5ommentary* 'truggles over the 5ultural Meanings of 6"oman7 Etsuko $erasaki, (igures of .esire, "ordplay, 'pirit /ossession, (antasy, Madness, and Mourning in Japanese ,oh /lays, @enter for #apanese )tudies Lniversity of Michi%an, @heltenham, JMMJ 8ictoria 8. 8ernon, .aughters of the Moon, "ish, "ill, and 'ocial 5onstraint in (iction by Modern Japanese "omen, 6nstitute of East 5sian )tudies, 7erkeley, *+HH
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