The thesis investigates the articulation of the voices of Japanese women in the U.S. in the Japanese immigrant media between 1914 and 1924 with particular regard to the idea of "home". The phrase the 'voices of women' in this thesis means discourses by women which denote varied and dynamic social practices and the meanings of utterances and cognitions (including the production and interpretation of various texts) in a socio-political economic and cultural context. This research critically evaluates the complicated roles and characteristics of the 'voices of women' as well as taking into account the authoritarian manner in which the media provided opportunities for the 'voices of women'. The research analyzes a range of published material written and spoken by Japanese women living in the U.S. Quantitative and qualitative content/textual analyses are deployed to examine the largest Japanese immigrant newspaper, The Nichibei (Japanese American Daily). The 'voices of women' challenge the dominant male discourses and Japanese 'traditional' gender ideology. However, these voices were used to construct a unified image of Japanese women in the U.S. as a series of groups, in the sense of a racial, national and ethnic group. a working-class group and groups of wives or mothers. They internalized modern hegemonic middle-class values under the influence of the developing concepts of race and nation. They were represented in connection with ideals of "good homes" and femininity. especially in the fields of romantic love; the position and roles of women in a family and society; and motherhood. The thesis concludes that women were not simply a 'voiceless' unity, nor a unity with 'voices'. Among the various women and men involved, there were complicated power relations defining the image of "'Japanese women in the U.S."
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:630476 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Nomura, Shiori |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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