Melodramat japoński a proces modernizacji życia społecznego

Abstrakt

Japanese Melodrama and Modernization of Social Life

The article begins with contradicting a popular statement, according to which melodrama should be regarded entirely as a means of escapist pleasure for mass audiences, or as an escape into sentimentalism reflecting bourgeois ideology. On the contrary, the author assumes that the genre perfectly illustrates basic contradictions of a modern society, by describing the changes in a family life, the phenomenon of rootlessness and alienation, but above all, by focusing on a woman in a new public role. On the basis of the films by such eminent directors as Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu and Mikio Naruse, the author points out the differences and similarities between the structure of a conventional melodrama and its Japanese version.