1880년대 중반부터 일본에서 연이어 출간된 일본의 여성잡지는 독자인 여성에게 모범이 될 만한 여성의 傳記를 싣기 위한 특별 지면을 마련하고, 孟母로 대표되는 다양한 ‘현모’나 ‘양처’ 관련 이야기를 실었다. 이 사실은 근대 일본에서의 ‘모범적 여성’상의 형상화에 대하여 무려 2천여 년 전에 劉向이 저술한 『列女傳』이 여전히 강력한 영향력을 지속적으로 미치고 있었음을 보여주는 것이다. 그렇지만 여성잡지에 게재된 여성의 전기를 구체적으로 검토하다 보면 이들 모두가 『列女傳』으로 대표되는 유교적 여성관에 지배되고 있지는 않다는 사실을 깨닫게 된다.
이를 단적으로 보여주는 것이 『列女傳』과 그 속편, 혹은 이들을 모방하여 편찬된 종래의 전기 텍스트에서는 등장하지 않았던 여성들―구체적으로는 유럽풍의 이름을 가진 주인공―의 존재다. 근대의 여성 잡지에서 女傳이 다한 역할을 개관하면, 사회변동에 적응하는 ‘女德’의 구체적 내실이 무엇이었는지에 대한 재검토나 이상적 여성의 인정기준의 재편성을 촉구하면서, 최종적으로는 ‘현모양처’사상을 강화해 나갔다고 정리할 수 있다.
근세의 女訓書가 복수의 훈계를 조목별로 서술했던 것과 마찬가지로, 『列女傳』에 보이는 덕목 역시 목록화되어 있다. 근세 일본에서 여성에게 요구되었던 덕목은 그와 같은 규범의식으로부터 어떠한 변화를 보인 것일까. 그것이 어떠한 여성상으로 나타나며, 어떻게 내면화되어 가는 것일까. 본고에서는 여성을 대상으로 한 미디어를 중심으로 여성규범의 근대적 생성 과정에 대해 고찰하고자 한다.
(1) 우선 ‘女傳’(필자는 『列女傳』에 실린 종래의 여성전기와 구별하기 위해 근대의 전기적 텍스트를 이렇게 부르고자 한다)이 여성잡지에 게재되기에 이르기까지의 前史로서 근세 이전의 『列女傳』 수용 상황과 근대 이후의 변화에 관해 개관할 것이다. (2) 다음으로 종래의 유교적 여성상이 기독교적 여성규범으로 대표되는 새로운 여성상과 조우하게 됨으로써 ‘女傳’을 어떻게 변화시켰는지를 여성잡지라는 새로운 미디어를 중심으로 검토할 것이다. (3) 이어서 서양 여성의 전기집에서 초기 여성잡지에 게재된 女傳의 ‘정보원’으로 볼 수 있는 3종의 텍스트를 예로 들어 ‘知의 담론’으로서의 ‘女傳’―왜냐하면 근대 이전의 사회에서 여성이 ‘번역’ 텍스트를 읽는다는 것은 거의 생각할 수 없었다―이 맡았던 사회적 기능에 대해 고찰할 것이다. (4) 그리고 마지막으로 규범적 담론으로서의 ‘女傳’을 일본 근대의 역사적 전개 과정 속에서 파악하려 할 때, “애국의 여장부”나 “구국의 처녀”라는 여성표상의 창출이 근대 국민국가로서의 제국 일본에서 중요한 과제로서 수행되었음을 논할 것이다.
Most women's magazines published since the mid 1880s set aside space to print biographies of women to serve as models for single women. These diverse accounts typically make reference to "worthy mothers" and "virtuous wives" such as the exemplary mother of Mencius. This fact is seen in the strong influence that Liu Xiang's 劉向 Lienü zhuan 列女傳 (Biographies of Exemplary Women), which was written over 2000 years ago, has had in the formulation of the "ideal women" in modern Japan. However, if we carefully examine the biographies of women published in these women's magazines, it becomes clear that all of them were not governed by the strictly Confucian view of women presented in the Lienü zhuan. Evidence of this is seen directly in the existence of biographies of women—specifically western women—that do not appear in the Lienü zhuan, its sequels, or other texts of biographies that model themselves upon such literature. If we make a general survey of the various roles of women's biographies in modern women's magazines, in the end we can say that they strengthen the traditional conceptualization of "worthy mother and virtuous wife" even while providing a reexamination of the substance of "womanly virtue" in its adaptation to changes in society and a reformulation of the ideal standards of womanhood. Just as admonitions for ladies(Jpn. jokunsho, 女訓書) in modern times provide distinct lists of several kinds of admonitions, the virtues appearing in the Lienü zhuan are also listed. What kind of change can be seen from the norm consciousness with respect to the virtues required of modern Japanese women? When some view of women is presented, how does this view become internalized? In this essay I examine the process by which modern norms for women were created by focusing on media for women. First, I survey the circumstances regarding the consumption of the Lienü zhuan before the modern period as a prehistory leading up to the publication of women's biographies(Jpn. nyoden, 女傳) in women's magazines, and the changes in more recent times. Second, focusing on the new media of women's magazines, I evaluate the kind of change that emerged in women's biographies as a result of the interaction between new views of womanhood based on Christian norms and the customary Confucian view of women. Third, treating three texts from a collection of biographies of Western women as "informants" on women's biographies published in women's magazines in the early period, I study the social function of women's biographies as a "discourse of wisdom". In conclusion, when we seek to comprehend women's biographies as a normative discourse within the development of modern Japanese history, we can discuss the origination of female representations like "patriotic heroines" and "nation-saving maidens" being put forth as important themes to imperial Japan as a nation-state.
Most women's magazines published since the mid 1880s set aside space to print biographies of women to serve as models for single women. These diverse accounts typically make reference to "worthy mothers" and "virtuous wives" such as the exemplary mother of Mencius. This fact is seen in the strong influence that Liu Xiang's 劉向 Lienü zhuan 列女傳 (Biographies of Exemplary Women), which was written over 2000 years ago, has had in the formulation of the "ideal women" in modern Japan. However, if we carefully examine the biographies of women published in these women's magazines, it becomes clear that all of them were not governed by the strictly Confucian view of women presented in the Lienü zhuan. Evidence of this is seen directly in the existence of biographies of women—specifically western women—that do not appear in the Lienü zhuan, its sequels, or other texts of biographies that model themselves upon such literature. If we make a general survey of the various roles of women's biographies in modern women's magazines, in the end we can say that they strengthen the traditional conceptualization of "worthy mother and virtuous wife" even while providing a reexamination of the substance of "womanly virtue" in its adaptation to changes in society and a reformulation of the ideal standards of womanhood. Just as admonitions for ladies(Jpn. jokunsho, 女訓書) in modern times provide distinct lists of several kinds of admonitions, the virtues appearing in the Lienü zhuan are also listed. What kind of change can be seen from the norm consciousness with respect to the virtues required of modern Japanese women? When some view of women is presented, how does this view become internalized? In this essay I examine the process by which modern norms for women were created by focusing on media for women. First, I survey the circumstances regarding the consumption of the Lienü zhuan before the modern period as a prehistory leading up to the publication of women's biographies(Jpn. nyoden, 女傳) in women's magazines, and the changes in more recent times. Second, focusing on the new media of women's magazines, I evaluate the kind of change that emerged in women's biographies as a result of the interaction between new views of womanhood based on Christian norms and the customary Confucian view of women. Third, treating three texts from a collection of biographies of Western women as "informants" on women's biographies published in women's magazines in the early period, I study the social function of women's biographies as a "discourse of wisdom". In conclusion, when we seek to comprehend women's biographies as a normative discourse within the development of modern Japanese history, we can discuss the origination of female representations like "patriotic heroines" and "nation-saving maidens" being put forth as important themes to imperial Japan as a nation-state.