Gender Justice and Contemporary Asian Literatures: A Casebook

Representations of the struggle for gender justice in Asian literature

This casebook investigates how diverse writers from across East, South, and Southeast Asia and their diasporas have engaged with the struggle for gender justice. Each chapter analyzes works of literature originally written in Bengali, Chinese, English, Indonesian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Marathi, Thai, and Vietnamese.

Aimed at both specialists and nonspecialists, Gender Justice and Contemporary Asian Literatures addresses such subjects as gender imparity in male-dominated professions; the lives of migrant sex workers and caregivers; the fight against reproductive, family, non-partner, and intimate partner violence; and norms of shame and silence surrounding violence against women. Informed by the author’s deep knowledge of literature, history, culture, law, and social conditions, this book will be a resource for instructors and students in gender studies, women’s studies, ethnic studies, Asian studies, Asian American studies, Asian diaspora studies, comparative literature, and world literature.

This volume contains discussion of the following authors and works: Sarbjit Kaur Athwal, Shamed; Cho Namjoo, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982; Dạ Ngân, An Insignificant Family; Ally Dalijo, ＂My Employer＂; Kishwar Desai, Origins of Love and Witness the Night; Selina Hossain, ＂Motijan’s Daughters＂; Saba Imtiaz, Karachi, You’re Killing Me!; Itō Shiori, Black Box; Meena Kandasamy, When I Hit You; or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife; Kawakami Mieko, Breasts and Eggs; Ratna Khaerudina, ＂Susi＂; Kim Soom, One Left; Li Ang, The Butcher’s Wife; Ma Jian, The Dark Road; Tisa Muhaddes, ＂Over and Over Again＂; Murata Sayaka, Convenience Store Woman; Shabnam Nadiya, ＂Teacher Shortage＂; Pak Wansŏ, ＂An Episode at Dusk, 2＂; Patigül, Bloodline; Duanwad Pimwana, ＂Men’s Rights＂; Wena Poon, ＂Development＂; Mey Son Sotheary, ＂My Sister＂; Claire Tham, ＂The Gunpowder Trail＂; Marianne Villanueva, ＂The Mayor of the Roses＂; Wang Nanfu and Zhang Jialing, One Child Nation; Watanabe Jun’ichi, Beyond the Blossoming Fields; Zhou Daxin, Longevity Park.

Karen Laura Thornber is Harry Tuchman Levin Professor in Literature and professor of East Asian languages and civilizations at Harvard University. A cultural historian and scholar of literature and media, she has published numerous articles and books, including Empire of Texts in Motion: Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese Transculturations of Japanese Literature (2009), Ecoambiguity: Environmental Crises and East Asian Literatures (2012), and Global Healing: Literature, Advocacy, Care (2020).