地方都市における戦前期の新聞メディアと学校イメージ : 高等女学校の威信・階層・学校文化  [in Japanese] Images of Girls' High Schools in Newspaper Media : Prestige, Social Class and School Culture  [in Japanese]

During the prewar period in Wakayama city, there were three girl's high schools (koto-jogakko) : a prefectural school (called "Wa-ko-jo"), a municipal school and a private school. Wa-ko-jo had the highest prestige among the three. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the process and factors through which Wa-ko-jo was recognized as a "prestige school, " by analyzing articles from "Asahi Newspaper, " focusing on "school image." The main findings can be summarized as follows. (1) In the early Taisho Era there were only a few newspaper articles. People didn't feel much interest in girls' high schools. But from the middle of the Taisho Era to the early Showa Era, the number of articles about Wa-ko-jo increased more than the others. Moreover, in articles describing sports, music and other media events, students and graduates of Wa-ko-jo were conspicuous as stars. (2) Through the whole period, there were many articles on the entrance examinations for secondary schools. In many cases, only the principal of Wa-ko-jo was quoted about the method and meaning of entrance examinations. Therefore, it was generally recognized that the rank of Wa-ko-jo was higher than the others. (3) In this paper, the lessons and events that symbolize difference between the three schools are called the "symbolic curriculum" ; they related to the social classes of the students and characterized each school culture. These schools had different images of ryosaikenbo ("good wife, wise mother") according to the "symbolic curriculum." (4) The articles about Wa-ko-jo described a life course model for women based on the modernistic gender role expected by the central government. They indicated a process through the central idea was materialized in a local city.