The Portrayal of Women in Shiga Literature from the Perspective of

Abstract

is an ancient concept introduced into literature by Virginia Woolf in the 1920s, which breaks through the traditional framework of gender dichotomy and reaches a new level of feminism. According to Woolf’s idea of , the greatest minds are , i.e., masculine and feminine in one body at the same time. Shiga has long been regarded as Japan’s “god of fiction”, a man whose delicate and vivid writing, concise and powerful language has produced many classic works of literature and literary images. Throughout his life, the theme of women has been a major theme in Shiga’s literary output. In modern Japanese society, which was centred on a patriarchal culture, women were one of the most oppressed groups. This paper focuses on the consciousness of the female characters in Shiga Naoya’s literature, a study that has profound implications for modern women’s awakening to their own consciousness in the face of gender inequality.