Un autre point de vue sur « l'histoire tragique des ouvrières ». Le monde des fileuses de soie dans le Japon de la première moitié du XXe siècle

Abstract

Another Point of View on the « Pitiful History of Women Workers ». The Life- World of the Women Workers in Prewar Japan's Silk Spinning Industry. Many researchers have studied the condition of the women who worked in the silk spinning industry in prewar Japan. Still, because they investigated this topic in the macroeconomic context of the Japanese industrialization, they mainly criticized its negative consequences and argued that these workers led a horrendous life in these mills. Therefore, most people remember them as victims and commonly refer to the history of their lives as the "pitiful history of women workers". However, this study, which is essentially based on the analysis of oral testimonies by ex- spinning mills' operatives, reveals that a positive representation of these women workers is also possible. If the informants often describe their work as hard, they do not go as far as presenting themselves as victims of the factory system. On the contrary, many of them not only teach us that life in those times was harsh for many rural people, but also that there were some good aspects in factory life. In this perspective, one can think that "the factory experience" may have been perceived as a good opportunity or at least as a lesser evil.