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An analysis of Torikaebaya monogatari: the heuristic potential of Judith Butler’s performative gender by Kazuhiko Imai B.A., Soka University of America, 2014 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Asian Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) May 2020 © Kazuhiko Imai, 2020 The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled: An analysis of Torikaebaya monogatari: the heuristic potential of Judith Butler’s performative gender submitted by Kazuhiko Imai in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Asian Studies Examining Committee: Joshua Mostow, Professor, Asian Studies, UBC Supervisor Christina Laffin, Associate Professor, Asian Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Sharalyn Orbaugh, Professor, Asian Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member ii Abstract Torikaebaya monogatari (The Changelings, the late 11th century) is a late-Heian court tale about a half-sister and half-brother whose gendered roles get switched when they are still a child. The story primarily features the female protagonist, who needs to keep her anatomy secret in the society of other male aristocrats and of her principal wife. Her hardships resulting from this secret and the threats of the scandal drive much of the plot forward. Ever since Fujioka Sakutarō, a Meiji-period scholar, judged this tale as perverse and decadent, modern scholarship on this work has been extremely limited both in number and in theme/approach. This trend changed, at least in Japan, with the emergence of gender and feminist studies in the 1980s, and in 1992, Gregory Pflugfelder wrote an article titled, “Strange Fates: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Torikaebaya monogatari.” After more than two decades since, this article still remains as one of the few English scholarly works that exclusively feature the tale.
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