Reversed Myth and Negative Symbols of Narcissus in Mother-Son Relationship in Hayashi Fumiko’s Narcissus

The famous myth of Narcissus is about a mythical handsome young man who indifferently rejects the love of the nymph Echo leading to Echo’s broken heart and untimely death and his being cursed to excessively adore his own handsome reflection on the pond till his death. The short story entitled Narcissus written by Hayashi Fumiko is intriguing because its title calls to mind the famous myth of Narcissus. However, this short story portrays the myth of Narcissus from a unique perspective. Thus, the aims of this paper are to analyse the reversed myth and negative symbols of Narcissus as reflected in the mother-son relationship in the short story. To support the analysis various psychological understandings of the myth of Narcissus are used as well as various understandings of the symbols of the flowers called Narcissus. The methods of research used are a comprehensive combination of textual-contextual methods as well as library research and qualitative research. The textual method focuses on the intrinsic aspects relevant to the focus of analysis, such as character, conflict, and setting, while the contextual method borrows the psychological concepts of the term Narcissus and the symbolic meaning of the flowers named Narcissus. The result shows that the mother-son relationship clearly portrays the reversed myth in the matter of the gender roles, the type of relationship, and the ending of the relationship. Another result shows that all the symbols related to the flowers of Narcissus turn into negative meanings in the sort of story entitled Narcissus by Hayashi Fumiko. In short, the short story writer turns upside down both the myth and the symbols resulting in an engaging story full of hidden meanings to be interpreted

Making a Political Impact

In many countries women have made more rapid advances in politics than in other fields, but not in Japan where family dynasties and conservative party rules have slowed their progress. However in the Governor of Tokyo, Koike Yuriko, and the Mayor of Yokohama, Hayashi Fumiko, are two women who have bucked the trend and are providing inspiration for younger generations. Koike-san came from a successful background in journalism while Hayashi-san was a rare businesswoman in her generation of the 1970s and 1980s, reaching leadership positions in several auto sales firms. Political journalism provided Kuniya Hiroko with her means of making an impact, holding politicians to account on her long-running show on the public broadcaster, NHK, Close Up Gendai.

The Devouring Empire

This chapter studies the impact of war, empire, and gender identity in shaping food values via the depictions of food and hunger in the works of famed novelist and poet Hayashi Fumiko (1903–1951). It argues that food and the act of eating serve as metaphors for the colonial and imperial relationships between Japan, its occupied territories, and its own occupation by US forces. In addition, Hayashi's attitudes toward national and imperial identity shift between her works. For instance, in Diary of a Vagabond (1929), the hungry heroine defies and critiques normative gender roles and middle-class values in her pursuits of work and food; as a war correspondent in 1938, however, Hayashi expressed patriotic attitudes in response to food scarcity and appeared to embrace prescribed gender roles.

Paris entre l’admiration et la pauvreté : Des traces d’une écrivaine japonaise des années 1930

Une admiration profonde pour la France s’est répandue au Japon avant la Première Guerre mondiale et, depuis, la France et en particulier Paris sont restés des lieux uniques, admirés, visités et décrits par de nombreux peintres et hommes de lettres japonais. L’image de Paris est établie depuis longtemps dans le monde littéraire et artistique japonais, mais renouvelée continuellement. Quelle est la spécificité de Paris en tant que « ville de lettres » dans l’imaginaire littéraire japonais ? Pour quelles raisons cette ville incite-t-elle toujours les Japonais et (surtout) les Japonaises à s’y rendre, à la poursuite d'un lieu imaginé et insaisissable, y ajoutant des nouveaux éléments au fil de leurs propres pas ? Pour aborder cette question, nous montrons la spécificité de Paris pour les femmes japonaises à travers le témoignage avant-coureur de Hayashi Fumiko, écrivaine très connue du grand public au Japon depuis les années 1930 qui nous a laissé un récit détaillé de son voyage à Paris en 1931. Son témoignage, unique en son époque, nous entraînera sur les traces de sa vie réelle et de son univers de fiction, et nous permettra de brosser le portrait d’une pionnière des femmes voyageuses. Il nous montrera aussi l’emprise d’une France idéalisée par le regard des écrivains et artistes sur l’imaginaire des Japonais, à tel point qu’un voyage à Paris est, pour eux, presque toujours la recherche d’un lieu rêvé, sublimé par la parole des écrivains à qui ils emboîtent le pas. Il s’agit en somme d’un véritable « tourisme littéraire », dans lequel les lieux sont indissociables des mots, toujours vivants, que les pionniers comme Fumiko y sont attaché.