ABSTRACT
The cumulative effect of such a “casual” style, Minako observes, is that the reader begins to voluntarily scrutinize the characters’ actions with a critical eye. Minako’s first encounter with The Tale of Genji reveals much of what she was to cultivate later as a writer: subversive intent. The opportunity to read this masterpiece came with the Pacific War, when the book was suppressed by the authorities because of its allegedly effeminate content. The disorienting reading experience of Urashimaso also derives from Minako’s propensity to dig into the past and stir up the depths of memory, which know no boundary or order. In the creation of Reiko, Minako again demystifies the image of the stereotypical Japanese woman trapped in convention. Psychoanalysis notwithstanding, Minako again unabashedly highlights in this narrative the immense difficulty of female bonding in a misogynistic society.
