著者

荒井 裕樹

出版者

東京大学グローバルCOEプログラム「死生学の展開と組織化」

雑誌

死生学研究 (ISSN:18826024)

巻号頁・発行日

no.13, pp.127-151, 2010-03

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論文 ArticlesIn modern Japanese history, eugenic ideas were manifested at their most extreme in sanatoria for the treatment of Hansen's Disease (leprosy). There, "There are no means to support children," and "it's a pity for the child" were given as reasons for the sterilization, abortion, and other eugenic surgeries that had long been performed on the patients. <改行> Putting peremptory, forced eugenic surgeries aside, I take as my topic the cases where patients themselves chose to accept (or had no choice but to accept) the eugenic surgeries. When faced with the serious decision of a eugenic surgery, what logic did patients use to manage their wavering feelings, and persuade themselves to have it done? <改行> In this article I read literary works written by former patients, examining the process through which they accepted the eugenic surgery and the course of their mind. After the war, the importance of the problem of eugenic surgery was often an important theme in patient literature. I believe these works of literature are an important resource for thinking about the above problem.