Abstract
Drawing on queer theory and new historicism, this thesis analyses the 1919 novel Yaneura no Nishojo by Yoshiya Nobuko in an attempt to answer the research question of to what extent and in which way Yoshiya engaged with contemporary discourses on sexuality when writing this novel. First, the theory and methodological approach behind the thesis is briefly explained. Then, based on the insight that sexualities are discursively created social categories that are contingent on time and space, the thesis first investigates the various discourses surrounding female same-sex sexuality that existed in Taishō era Japan, before it embarks on an analysis of the novel. The resulting discussion will argue that Yoshiya Nobuko did indeed engage strongly with the discourses that existed at the time she was writing Yaneura no Nishojo, and that she used concepts from sexological and feminist debates to legitimise the same-sex romantic relationship between the novel’s two main characters, and that she additionally used the novel to counter certain specific negative conceptions of same-sex relationships that were presented by sexologists at the time. While Yaneura no Nishojo has often been termed a lesbian novel by modern critics, this thesis will show that the same-sex relationship depicted in the book does not conform to our view of lesbian relationships. As such, the novel serves an example of how the interpretations of same-sex love and desire are discursively created, rather than based on inherent biologically factors.