Gerlach, Hayley
(2024)
Ecology, Society, and Imagination in Oyamada Hiroko's The Factory and The Hole.
Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Two of Oyamada Hiroko’s best-known works are her proletarian debut novella The Factory (Kōjō, 2013) and her Akutagawa prize-winning novella The Hole (Ana, 2014). My thesis focuses on representations of the unseen forces at play in everyday life in Oyamada’s novels. Oyamada constructs multispecies worlds in which capital, patriarchy, and the environment are intertwined. I examine how The Factory represents alienation and precarity in the current neoliberal economy. The factory is depicted as the background for a multispecies assemblage in which all beings are affected by capitalism. In shifting focus to marginalized beings, Oyamada challenges notions of modernity which conveniently ignore their existence. I discuss capitalism’s extension into the home in The Hole. Women’s reproductive roles in the family serve to support models of production based on the myth of the male breadwinner. Oyamada shows how women are covertly nudged into traditional gender roles, and how wildness offers a potential alternative.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
13 May 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
29 March 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
13 May 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
5 April 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
61 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > East Asian Studies |
| Degree: |
MA - Master of Arts |
| Thesis Type: |
Master's Thesis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
multispecies assemblage ecology Oyamada Hiroko capitalism gender eerie literature Japan precarity alienation |
| Date Deposited: |
13 May 2024 13:48 |
| Last Modified: |
13 May 2024 13:48 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46035 |
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