The Design of a Social Movement by a “Self-Publishing Alliance”: From an Analysis of the Manifesto by the 1920's Magazine ‘Buntō’

Abstract

This paper shows how Japanese literature became a form of “social movement” in the 1920s, not only through the contents of literary works, but also through the creation of new social practices (organizational forms). Based on the example of the magazine ‘Buntō’ (Literary Party), we show how organizational practices in the literary world resulted in the creation of a new social movement. The members of Buntō viewed themselves as “literary workers” who were engaged in a class struggle to overcome their dependence on the capitalist class. To achieve this goal, they created a “self-publishing alliance”, a network for economic assistance that was open to all people engaged in literary activities, regardless of age, sex, occupation or class.