"There was another reason to be so anxious."

August 5, 2020 8:41 AM

Miyamoto Yuriko, "The Breast" (1935): "The streetcar struggle had begun in September, and this day care participated in support activities, so ever since the veteran Sawazaki Kin was hauled off, plainclothesmen from the precinct were coming by at unexpected times. She'd be no match if they barged in with some sort of pretext like Tried knocking but nobody answered so we thought maybe there was a burglar in here." Miyamoto's "The Family of Koiwai" [PDF] is a similar example of Japanese proletarian literature. After writing a feminist I-novel (defined; excerpts [PDFs]) about her first marriage, Miyamoto began a relationship with Yuasa Yoshiko, lived with her in the USSR, and wrote non-fiction like "Soviet 'Workers' Clubs,'" "The State of Moscow: Christmas There," and "Crossing the New Siberia." Then she joined the outlawed Japanese Communist Party (history), married its future leader, and wrote novels about his release from prison at the end of the war (excerpts [PDF]).
posted by Wobbuffet (1 comment total)

Thank you for this fascinating post: I had not heard of this writer before and I'm grateful to be introduced to her work.
posted by jokeefe at 11:12 AM on August 6, 2020 [1 favorite]