Karlsson, M. “The Proletarian Literature Movement: Japan’s First Encounter with Working-Class Literature.” Class Literature(s): Historical and International Perspectives. Volume 2. (2020) Pp. 115–137 https://doi.org/10.16993/bbf.e   

“The Proletarian Literature Movement: Japan’s First Encounter with Working-Class Literature” is a peer reviewed chapter from a book about understanding working class literature from various places around the world. This chapter specifically focuses on proletariat literature in Japan during the late 1920s featuring snippets of literature written by the working class in Japan and a brief description of Karlsson’s thoughts on it. It emphasizes[MO1]  the importance of literature during labor movements stating that literature was the most influential form for spreading the proletariat’s sentiments. This chapter also includes “origins of the initiative to create a “proletarian” literature in Japan” during the Proletarian Cultural Movement which occurred in the late 1920s. This Proletarian Cultural Movement’s mission was to “create a more equal society,” however its leaders and union activist took it as “means to propagate their ideology and pave the way for union activism.” Karlsson then contrasts the writers in the movement who essentially wanted to write their way into union activism with those who were in fact union activists. Additionally, the author notes the presence of female writers who were a part of the trade union movement in Japan and wrote about the bad conditions and hardships other women faced in the workforce which garnered attention from other international communist movements. [MO2] Karlsson then transitions into stories from female writers writing for the proletariat cause and the effect these texts have now on present day Japan with its message of solidarity for the working class. This places “The Breast” (1935) by Miyamoto Yuriko (dates) in a more historical perspective and, by reading this chapter, the reader can pick up its message from a women writer’s point of view in Japan and gain some background knowledge on the subject of working-class literature and its impact on the movements at the time.

Keene, Donald. “Japanese Literature and Politics in the 1930s.” Journal of Japanese Studies 2, no. 2 (1976) 225-248. https://doi.org/10.2307/132053

In this article, Keene explains the reasoning behind why some writers during this time period decided to dedicate their literature to proletarian and communist causes. He argues that some drift to these Marxist ideologies due to their personal experience with poverty or hardships, but he also offers a more critical perspective, by stating that some of these writers were people who wanted to “become a part of  a cause larger than themselves.”( 225) The author then moves on to explore why some of these writers and activists eventually abandoned their Marxist ideology. Whether they were forced to, or they had become disillusioned with it, many writers experienced tenkō or ideological conversion. Some stories feature some writers who became stronger advocates for the proletariat cause in their writing even after the repercussions of writing such texts and having “renounced” their Marxist beliefs, while other stories had former proletarian writers that had “swung so far left, they went right.” This article emphasizes the relation between Marxism and Japanese culture, as well as the writers’ struggles with censorship and borrowed ideology. Although no Japanese women proletariat writers are featured in Keene’s analysis, the article nevertheless provides a view of the writers’ purpose and intent of their writing, given that Miyamoto Yuriko dealt with similar repercussions in 1933. Was she writing with the intent to improve Japanese society, or was she one of the writers that simply wanted to be a part of something greater is a question worth asking regarding her work.

Yoon, Shomi. “Women and the Early Years of Japanese Communism.” International Socialist Organization Aotearoa, April 4, 2020. https://iso.org.nz/2014/07/08/women-and-the-early-years-of-japanese-communism/.  

This blog shares some personal accounts of a few women who were a part of a small group that took part in the May Day protests in Japan that aimed to “overthrow capitalism for genuine women’s liberation.” This small group of women was called the “Sekirankai” or the “Red Wave Society” and was formed because women could not formally participate in political socialist groups. Yoon also noted some of the historical factors such as the Meiji restoration values, which lasted from the late 1860s to late 1880s, that contributed to women seeking to participate in socialist movements in order to fight the ideology of women solely having the purpose of being “good wives” and “wise mothers.” Some of the personal accounts featured in this blog included some differences even within this collection of women and their own interpretation of liberation under a socialist society. Lastly, it highlights the small victories the group did achieve despite its short-lived existence and what led to its disbandment. Overall, this blog showcases the unshakable attitude of women during these protests and provides some contexts that led to these escalations in situations similar to that of “The Breast.” Additionally, it offered a more resilient tone which contrasts that of the helpless tone in “The Breast” and gives the readers the impression that these women’s efforts were not all in vain.

 Zhou, Zhijun. “The Transformation of Women in Views of Socialist Japan.” Synergy, April 25, 2018. https://utsynergyjournal.org/2017/10/12/the-transformation-of-women-in-views-of-socialist-japan/.

This article begins by emphasizing how gender and class are important subjects in Marxist thought and focuses on how Japanese women were changing their role in society by challenging “traditional social relations in Japan” by participating in these proletariat movements that allowed them to step out of their traditional roles. Zhou then brings in literature such as Women: The Longest Revolution by Juliet Mitchell and discusses how its overall message highlights the “marginalization of women in political, social, and economic aspects while at the same time being an essential part of society.” The author brings in other literary examples such as Engels’s The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, which states that women's liberation starts with joining the workforce and denotes the difference between socialist perspective and socialism.  Zhou then discusses three different aspects of the transformation of women in socialist Japan. The first refers to women who lived in rural areas and married Marxist supporters, thus coming to see the hardships workers endured and to more easily accept Marxist views. The second dealt with women’s reproductive freedom and its tie to overcoming capitalism. Lastly, there was the mobilization of women which gave them the opportunity for “greater participation in social labor and political affairs.” Zhou does not simply praise these transformations, but rather raises questions such as whether the involvement in these movements by women, married to Marxist supporters, was “deemed another patriarchal influence on women,” or if women joining the workforce was benefiting capitalists in the end. These are all very important themes that relate a lot to those of “The Breast,” seeing as the main protagonist deals with a lot of these transformations. It evaluates these transformations and presents theory versus practice in a more easy to understand context.