The representation of women in Japanese dramas: “Purinsesu meizon” (Princess maison), “Hotaru no hikari”(It’s Only a Little Light In My Life), “Nigeru wa haji da ga yaku ni tatsu” (Runaway is Ashamed But Helpful)

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide an insight into the representation of Japanese women and their emancipation in the society today through an analysis of Japanese contemporary dramas. I have decided to focus my attention specifically on dramas considering that characters tend to be stereotyped by Euro-American societies; and my intention is to try to overcome this barrier. Throughout the centuries, women played different roles within society and, consequently, within visual media, which can be viewed as a representation of reality. In this context reality should be considered as a “fictitious reality”, so that viewers can better identify themselves with the actors. It is difficult to identify where the boundary line between reality and fiction begins, but audiences are usually intrigued by this state of uncertainty. This research is divided into five chapters. In the first one, I will focus on the different types of dramas. From the second chapter to the fourth, a detailed critical analysis of three dramas will be introduced: “Princess maison”, “Hotaru no hikari” and “Nigeru ha haji da ga yaku ni tatsu”. In the last one I aim to make a comparison between all the women characters. In each drama, the main character is a woman, and three of them come from widely different social backgrounds, and, according to their social status, have no prospect of getting out of their established roles.