Modern Social Science Research

This study examines Hayashi Mariko’s novel A Banquet for the Common People through the lens of social identity theory, dissecting identity crises and behavioral choices among individuals from distinct social strata in contemporary Japan’s stratified society. Focusing on three archetypes: Yumiko, a middle-class housewife striving to maintain status through educational investment; Sho, her son representing the "low-desire youth", who renounces class mobility for personal freedom; Tamio, a marginalized woman who achieves class transcendence by entering medical school after experiencing class-based discrimination. The research reveals: Japan’s academic credentialism and nuclear-family centrism have instrumentalized education into a tool for class reproduction among the middle class; Generational fractures stemming from economic stagnation fuel the "low-desire" survival philosophy in youth; While disadvantaged individuals can disrupt class rigidity by emulating dominant groups, such transcendence demands severe sacrifices. Collectively, these cases demonstrate how divergent social identities dictate life strategies—defending, escaping, or transcending class—all ultimately contesting the distribution of symbolic capital and resources. Tamio’s counterattack critiques hereditary determinism, offering literary imagination for upward mobility and echoing Tajfel’s proposition that "marginalized groups preserve self-esteem by adopting dominant-group practices."

Stratified society; Social identity theory; Middle class; Low-desire youth; Class