The Role of Women in the Development of Hiragana
My name is Dasha Raguimov. I received an Associate of Arts last fall and am transferring to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I have always had an interest in foreign languages. I have studied Russian, French, Mandarin, Korean, and, of course, Japanese. This spring I also completed my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate. At UIUC, I plan to study abroad as a Global Studies major. Once I graduate, I plan to have a career where I live and teach English in various countries.
Scholarships and Awards: Oakton Educational Foundation Honors Scholarship, Honors Scholar Designee, Oakton Honors Global Studies Awardee
Abstract
Japanese, a very complex language, has an interesting history of how it went from exclusively using borrowed Chinese characters to developing two unique syllabaries that are used in conjunction with those Chinese characters. What I find to be constantly understated and underemphasized is the key role women played in the development and creation of one of those alphabets. This project is a combination of a research and art presentation that demonstrates and literally illustrates the progression of Chinese characters into hiragana through Japanese calligraphy. Hiragana is the syllabary that is taught first when learning how to write in Japanese, as it is the most important to learn. It can be shocking that most people are unaware that the creation of a written language for one of the most widely spoken languages in the world can be so clearly credited solely to Japanese women. Without the participation of women in that creation and popularization, there would be no uniquely Japanese script like hiragana. That is why it is crucial to bring forward histories like the development of hiragana into the spotlight and truly lift up the literary and linguistic achievements that were made by Japanese women.
Course: Honors Learning Community, “Writing, Gender and Knowledge: Intersectional and Transnational Perspectives.” This seminar is comprised of two interlinked and team-taught courses: Introduction to Composition and Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies.
Instructors: Dr. Kristin McCartney, Philosophy and Dr. Marian Staats, English
Project Slides
