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The aim of this thesis is to examine whether Risa Wataya ’s Keritai Senaka (2003, English title: I want to kick you in the back: 2015) enforces, or resists, patriarchal attitudes. Utilizing close reading, the analysis is conducted and divided into 3 parts: firstly, investigating whether the character portrayals challenge the notion of a feminine/masculine binary. Secondly, analysing the depicted relations; and, lastly, analysing what is implied (whether comments can be traced or not), all from a primarily feminist perspective.

The results of the analysis suggest that the character portrayals and the relations and structures depicted in the novel are complex, and that especially the characterisation of the main character, as well as what can be noted from the implied author, indicate that the novel resists patriarchal attitudes. Even though, as the author notes, the notion of the implied author and its importance in a study can be questioned, the main character ’s definite deviation from the “norm” is enough to conclude that the novel does undermine patriarchal attitudes, at least to some extent.