Abstract
In this chapter, Dumas situates this study within the context of longstanding Japanese perceptions of femininity, and against the backdrop of a series of cultural developments that have served to mark the contemporary period as a site of crisis. With attention to how discourses on gender have coalesced with those centered on nationhood in Japan, she foregrounds the enduring appeal of sexual difference as a device for mapping evolving constructions of subjectivity and national identity, as well as highlighting its allure as a site for exploring the array of cultural transformations that have transpired in recent decades. This chapter also outlines the primary theoretical frameworks deployed in this book with attention to the utility of an interdisciplinary approach for thinking about the ambivalence of monstrous-feminine imagery in contemporary Japan.
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Dumas, R. (2018). Open Wounds: Situating the Monstrous-Feminine in Contemporary Japan. In: The Monstrous-Feminine in Contemporary Japanese Popular Culture. East Asian Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92465-6_1
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