Abstract
In rethinking the meaning of women's involvement in the construction of champ littéraire (Bourdieu 1992), this paper focuses on the relationship between Christian reformism and women's writing in Jogaku Zasshi, the first women's magazine in Japan, published in 1885. Women's writing in Japan was influenced by the Christian culture presented in both American and British women's magazines, and was welcomed in the reformist context; this was particularly the case in the field of Japanese literature in the late 19th century. Some of the writers developed monological and colloquial styles, although the consistent use of Christian morality was challenged by the magazine Bungaku kai. One of the members of Bungaku Kai, Kitamura Toukoku, separated literature from religion, while Higuchi Ichiyo used a literary strategy to challenge the politics of gender and the moralistic literature that was prevalent in Jogaku Zasshi.
The practice of constructing champ littéraire was both independent from and transcendenced society. Premised on the idea of "literature for society", it was also founded upon Christian morality. Moreover, the writers for Jogaku Zasshi encouraged their educated female readers to embrace literature, by allowing them to read novels, although most educators were against it because reading novels was traditionally considered as lowbrow culture in Japan. Therefore, Ichiyo, and women's involvement in literature, played a crucial role in the construction of champ littéraire, a role that has been ignored by former researchers.
