Representations of Femininity in Contemporary South Korean Women’s Literature

From the publisher’s website:

This book discusses perceptions of ‘femininity’ in contemporary South Korea and the extent to which fictional representations in South Korean women’s fiction of the 1990s challenges the enduring association of the feminine with domesticity, docility and passivity. While existing literature addresses Korean women’s legal, educational, political and employment issues, this study is the first to analyse the cultural values that define femininity in the context of the Korean cultural imagination, concentrating on literary representations of femininity.

Contents

Acknowledgements; Language Note; Introduction: Fictions about Women;
1. Traditional Femininities;
2. Korean Women’s Literature and Representations of Femininity;
3. Romanticized Housewives;
4. The Maternal Feminine and Female Genealogies;
5. Female Sexuality;
6. Contesting the Symbolic: The Feminine in the Fantastic;
Beyond Representations: Final Thoughts;
Bibliography; Index