The Politics of Trauma and Integrity: Stories of Japanese "Comfort Women"

Description

The Politics of Trauma and Integrity uses the lenses of gender and trauma to tell the stories of narratives testified by two contrasting Japanese "comfort women" survivors. Through an innovative interdisciplinary study of the politics of gendered memory and trauma in a historical context, with numerous primary sources for analysis including diaries, interviews, letters and oral testimonies, this book uncovers the life- or- death struggles of Japanese survivors in pursuit of public recognition as the victims of state violence against women. It is set within a gender history of modern Japan, supplemented by feminist activist methodology premised upon political agency that seeks social justice. The author’s analysis draws upon three key concepts: trauma, coherence of the self and integrity. Focusing upon the role of gender and trauma as the nexus between memory construction and identity formation in modern Japan, the author reveals these women’s relentless quest for their recovery and the creation of new identities. This book provides a better understanding of the victims of sexual violence and encourages readers to listen to the voice of trauma, as well as making a significant contribution to the existing research on the ongoing history of sexual violence against women in Japan, the rest of Asia and beyond. It will be of interest to scholars, researchers, activists and all who are concerned about the issue of women’s human rights. It provides supplementary reading and research material for history and politics courses relating to Japan and East Asia, memory, identity, trauma, gender, war and feminist activism. This book will also be beneficial to victims of sexual violence as well as the counsellors/ psychologists engaging with them. Chapter 4 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com Cover Endorsement Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Figures Acknowledgements Abbreviations Prologue 1 Introduction: Trauma and Recovery Hegemonic Narratives and the Politics of History Trauma as Impossible Communication Recovery From Trauma as the Creation of a Coherent Self The Politics of Integrity The Structure of this Book Notes References 2 Conspiracy of Silence in Post-War Japan Introduction Japan’s War Trauma and the States’ Post-War Revisionism A Hidden History of the Sexual Contract: Japanese “Comfort Women” for the Allied Forces Conclusion Notes References 3 Kikumaru: Between Voice and Silence Introduction Reclaiming Post-War Life The Divided Self Kikumaru’s Final Effort: Breaking Her Silence Conclusion Notes References 4 Shirota Suzuko: The Victim-Survivor-Activist Introduction The Listener Stage 1: Establishment of Stability for Survival Stage 2: Subject Formation By Building a Coherent Narrative of the Self Stage 3: Reconnection to the External World The Victim-Survivor-Activist Conclusion Notes References 5 The State-Licensed Prostitute as a Dutiful Daughter Introduction The Conspiracy of Silence: Forced Internalisation of the Abusers’ Shame and Guilt Into Their Victims Kikumaru (Hirota 2009) For the Family to for the Country Shirota Suzuko (Shirota 1971) Patriarchal Family as a Unit of Patriarchal Society Betrayal of Trust Prostitution Sex as a Dehumanised Process Conclusion Note References 6 “Comfort Women” as a Gendered National Subject Introduction Hegemonic Masculinity and Homosocial Male Bonding Masculinities of Citizen-Soldiers in Modern Japan Kikumaru as the Wife/mistress for Officers Shirota Suzuko as a Witness to Brutality at War Nationalism as a Conspiracy of Silence From “Fully Fledged” Citizens to “Fully Fledged” Soldiers Homosocial Bond Between “Fully Fledged” Soldiers The Making of an Imperial Killing Machine Conclusion: Beyond Masculinity as Humanity Notes References 7 Epilogue Introduction Modern Nation-States as Imagined Communities The ‘Circles of Memory: The “Comfort Women” and the World’ From Empathy to Activism as Imagined Communities References Appendix Brief Life Stories of Some Japanese “Comfort Women” Keiko (Sasakuri Fuji) Miyagi Tsuru (Pseudonym) Mizuno Iku Shimada Yoshiko (Pseudonym) Suzumoto Aya (Pseudonym) Takanashi Taka Tanaka Tami (Pseudonym) Uehara Eiko (Pseudonym) Index