A Daughter of the Samurai
 | |
| Author | Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiographical novel[1] |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 1925[2] |
| ISBN | 978-1-646-79604-5 |
| Text | A Daughter of the Samurai at Wikisource |
A Daughter of the Samurai is a 1925[n 1] autobiographical novel by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto.
Conception
[edit]Sugimoto was encouraged by Christopher Morley to write about her life in Japan.[3] She was 51 years old and had been living in the US for over 20 years when she wrote the book.[1] Her intention in writing the book, as said through the protagonist Etsu-bō, was to clarify the secret that was hidden from people in the East and the West:[1]
Years passed, and Etsu-bō, the little girl who had listened to the story of the black ships and the red barbarians, herself went sailing on a black ship that moved without sails, to a new home in the distant land of the red barbarians. There she learned that hearts are the same on both sides of the world; but this is a secret that is hidden from the people of the East, and hidden from the people of the West.
— Etsu-bō, in Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, A Daughter of the Samurai (1925), pg. 314
It initially was serialized in the Asia magazine before later being released as a book in 1925.[1][4] A niece of Etsu's so-called "American mother", Florence Mills Wilson, had rewritten the manuscript prior to it being sent to publishers.[1]
Contents
[edit]
The full text of A Daughter of the Samurai at Wikisource
The book consists of 32 chapters. It follows the immigration of Etsu-bō, author surrogate for Sugimoto, to the United States of America and compares the life of being a woman in Japan to in America.
Reception
[edit]A year prior to its publication, the Immigration Act of 1924 prevented the immigration of people from Asian countries into the US, fueled by "Yellow Peril" myth.[5] Despite this, or because of it, the book was successful, with Setsuko Hirakawa stating the book's success was due to increasing western curiosity of Japan.[1] It had sold 10 million copies by 1962.[6]
Critic reviews, both contemporary and retrospective, have praised the book. Dorothy E. Guttmacher, writing for the Baltimore Sun, compared her with Joseph Conrad, stating her style displayed both "vividness and charm."[7] Daniel E. Ahearne for the Hartford Courant described the book as "pure pose-poetry".[8] Richard G. Hubler for the Los Angeles Times described it as "a charming curtsy in print."[4]
Analysis
[edit]The book is commonly described as an autobiography or a memoir, however it is more accurate to describe it as an autobiographical novel as it is a work of fiction based on the actual events of Sugimoto's life.[1]
It has been described as a "transnational feminist" novel which examines the lives of both Japanese and white women in the early 20th century.[9] While admitting that American women are more "socially free" than Japanese women, Etsu-bō states they are the targets of male humor and disrespect in-contrast to the "subtle power" of Japanese women, whose role it is, as Etsu-bō explains, to manage the income and all expenses for the household, while granting their husbands pocket-money. Thus, they are financially educated, whereas she found that American women proclaim (sometimes with pride) to have no knowledge of financial matters. [10]
Translations
[edit]![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2023) |
It has been translated into multiple languages, including a Japanese translation in 1943.[1][11]
| Language | Title | Translator(s) | Publisher | Year[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| French | Une fille du samouraï | René de Cérenville | Editions Victor Attinger | 1930 |
| Swedish | 1934 | |||
| German | Eine Tochter der Samurai | S. Fischer Verlag | 1935 | |
| Finnish | Samurain tytär | Häftad, Finska | 1937 | |
| Danish | 1937 | |||
| Polish | 1937 | |||
| Japanese | 武士の娘 | Miyo Ōiwa | Nagasaki Shoten | 1943 |
| Russian | Дочь самурая (Doch' samuraya) | Daria Loginova | Symposium | 2024 |
| Russian | Дочь самурая (Doch' samuraya) | Yulia Poleshchuk | Yandex Books | 2024 |
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hirakawa, Setsuko (1993). "Etsu I· Sugimoto's "A Daughter of the Samurai" in America". Comparative Literature Studies. 30 (4): 397–407. ISSN 0010-4132. JSTOR 40246906.
- ^ a b "Review of New Books". The Minneapolis Star. November 3, 1925. p. 6. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ Findsen, Owen (January 22, 1995). "Ohio presented particular problems for Japanese bride". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 71. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ a b Hubler, Richard G. (August 14, 1966). "Measuring Stick for American Lives". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ Imai, Shiho. "Immigration Act of 1924". Densho Encyclopedia.
- ^ Bettman, Iphigene (September 23, 1962). "Mrs. Kodera Back In Childhood Home". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 80. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ Guttmacher, Dorothy E. (December 12, 1925). "Autobiography Of A Noblewoman Of Modern Japan". The Baltimore Sun. p. 8. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ Ahearne, Daniel E. (October 26, 1947). "A History Properly Told". Hartford Courant. p. 78. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
- ^ Karen Kuo (2015). ""Japanese Women Are Like Volcanoes": Trans-Pacific Feminist Musings in Etsu I. Sugimoto's A Daughter of a Samurai". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. 36 (1): 57–86. doi:10.5250/fronjwomestud.36.1.0057. JSTOR 10.5250/fronjwomestud.36.1.0057. S2CID 160266576.
- ^ Dodge, Georgina (1996). "Laughter of the Samurai: Humor in the Autobiography of Etsu Sugimoto". MELUS. 21 (4): 57–69. doi:10.2307/467642. JSTOR 467642.
- ^ "A Daughter of the Samurai: On the Strength, Tradition, and Rebellion of Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto". Literary Hub. July 6, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2023.