September 13 Reading Reflection

September 13 Readings

It was really interesting to read a selection of stories that referenced past works and understand how historic writings have kept their relevance in current times. The themes of women, relationships with men, and the difficulties women face within these relationships and within themselves was very interesting to see from both a past and current lens. 

The Ice Man and The Straw Husband held many parallels to each other. The Ice Man’s imagery was so beautifully written, and the story itself was unexpected. I was very drawn in, but in all honesty I’m not sure exactly what all of it symbolized. I found The Straw Husband to be as or maybe more compelling. The similarities to The Ice Man were definitely there, but I found the differences lent itself to characters I felt I could understand more wholly and empathize with. I felt I could read the woman’s motivations, desires, and fears very vividly.

Having read no traditional Japanese theater before this, it was a new experience reading Dojoji with the way they wrote about women and the subject matter. Seeing that this version we read was based on another iteration of the story from 1040 was also quite insightful, and I appreciate the changes from that version to portray Kiyohime as a less villainous character. I really enjoyed the theatrical elements and stage directions. In Smartening Up I loved the way Kiyohime is looked up to and revered in a modern context. The societal topic of body hair, especially among women, has huge prevalence, and tackling it in such a unique way with the inclusion of the aunt’s ghost was refreshing to read.

I really loved Silently Burning, the premise for the story was so fun to read to begin with, and all the details made the story so immersive of a read for me. I thought it was interesting that the protagonist herself had little interest in romantic relationships, yet every day saw and thought about people praying for luck in love. The description of those people with the capacity to hold a deep obsession for someone or something is so relevant in today’s world. Similarly with Dojoji, the references to The Greengrocer’s Daughter with a Bundle of Love and Oshichi’s temple were very interesting to see. I also noticed the comments about the protagonist’s calligraphy being “fiery”, maybe calling parallels between her and Oshichi’s passion despite not being about love- that a woman can have passions and talents in things other than romance and relationships.

Kaito