Okinawan War Memory: Transgenerational Trauma and the War Fiction of Medoruma Shun

171 Pages·2014·1.387 MB·English

by  Kyle Ikeda

Okinawan War Memory
As one of Okinawa’s most insightful writers and social critics, Medoruma
Shun has highlighted the problems and limits of conventional representation
of theBattle of Okinawa,raised newquestions and concerns about the nature
of Okinawanwar memory, and expanded the possibilities of representing war
through his groundbreaking and prize-winning fiction, editorials, essays, and
speaking engagements. Yet, his writing has not been analyzed in regard to
how his experience and identity as the child of two survivors of the Battle of
Okinawahavepowerfullyshapedhisunderstandingofthewarandhisliterary
craft.
ThisbookexaminesOkinawanwarmemorythroughthelensofMedoruma’s
warfiction,andpaysparticularattentiontotheissuesofsecond-generationwar
survivorship and transgenerational trauma. It explores how his texts con-
tribute to knowledge about the war and its ongoing effects – on survivors,
their offspring, and the larger community – in different ways from that of
other modes of representation, such as survivor testimony, historical narra-
tive, and realistic fiction. These dominant means of memory making have
played a major role in shaping the various discourses about the war and the
Battle of Okinawa, yet these forms of public memory and knowledge often
exclude or avoid more personal, emotional, and traumatic experiences.
Indeed, Ikeda’s analysis sheds light on the nature of trauma on survivors and
their children who continue to inhabit sites of the traumatic past, and in turn
makesan importantcontribution to studies ontrauma and second-generation
survivor experiences.
ThisbookwillbeofhugeinteresttostudentsandscholarsofAsianliterature,
Japanese literature, Japanese history, war memory, and Okinawa.
Kyle Ikeda is an Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature at the University
of Vermont, USA.
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Okinawan War Memory
fi
Transgenerational trauma and the war ction of
Medoruma Shun
Kyle Ikeda
Firstpublished2014
byRoutledge
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andbyRoutledge
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RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2014KyleIkeda
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BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Ikeda,Kyle.
Okinawanwarmemory:transgenerationaltraumaandthewarfictionof
MedorumaShun/KyleIkeda.
pagescm–(Asia’stransformations:literatureandsociety;3)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Medoruma,Shun,1960—Criticismandinterpretation.2.WorldWar,
1939-1945–Literatureandthewar.3.Okinawa-ken(Japan)–Inliterature.
4.WorldWar,1939-1945–Campaigns–Japan–OkinawaIsland.5.Warin
literature.6.Psychictraumainliterature.7.Collectivememoryinliterature.
I.Title.
PL856.E4Z542013
895.6’35–dc23
2013025726
ISBN:978-0-415-85395-8(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-74755-1(ebk)
TypesetinTimesNewRoman
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
Acknowledgements vi
Introduction 1
PARTONE
Simmering awareness 31
1 Unarticulated memory and traumatic recall in “The Crying Wind”
and “Walking the Street Named Peace Boulevard” 33
PARTTWO
Vicarious imagination and the “Magical Real” 53
2 Unrecognized signs and unexplained
phenomena in “Droplets” 55
3 Subjective and objective fiction – Medoruma Shun’s “Spirit
-
Stuffing” and Oshiro Tatsuhiro’s “Island of the Gods” 74
PARTTHREE
Portraying second-generation conscious engagement 99
4 Critical “Sentimentalism” and conscious engagement in
“Tree of Butterflies” 101
5 Multisensory memory and sites of trauma in
Forest at the Back of My Eye 122
Epilogue 141
Bibliography 148
Index 160
Acknowledgements
I owe a great deal to many who guided and supported me through the
research and writing of this book. I would like to thank Nobuko Ochner for
her steady guidance, Robert Huey for his mentorship, Geoffery White for
introducing me to the intricacies of war memory, and committee members
Leon Serafim and Lucy Lower. My research and analytical skills benefited
from classes and interaction with Valdo Viglielmo, Joel Cohn, Arthur
Thornhill,MildredTahara,PaulVarley,MireKoikari,ChristineYano,Ming-
Bao Yue, Kathy Furguson, and Mari Yoshihara. From my time in graduate
school, discussions with fellow students Keith Camacho and Chris Callahan
helped focus research proposals. Special thanks to Rinda Yamashiro, Chihiro
Komine, Masashi Sakihara, and Yukari Akamine for inviting me to present
findings to the Okinawan studies group Akisamiyo! Heather Diamond and
Sun Hee Ko read drafts of my early research and Jane Yamashiro many of
the revisions of later work. Collegial support at the University of Vermont
from my department enabled me to focus on research and the Inter-
disciplinary Workshop Series for junior faculty helped refine ideas. A special
thankstoAsianStudiesdirectorErikEsselstromfor mentorshipandguidance
with the book project and adjusting to life at UVM.
Okinawanliterature scholarsSteve Rabson, Michael Molasky, and Davinder
Bhowmikhaveall beengenerouswithhelp and support in myresearch. Ithas
been through their work that I was first introduced to and became interested
in Okinawan literature and Medoruma Shun. Anonymous feedback from
external reviewers on the manuscript, and my related IJOS article, as well as
David Stahl’s and Annmaria Shimabuku’s comments on my positions article
(Chapter 1) all helped improve the book. I have also benefited from interac-
tion with scholars of Okinawa including Gregory Smits, Christopher Nelson,
Linda Angst, Amanda Stinchecum, Wesley Ueunten, and Mitzi Uehara-
Carter. Thankyou also to fellow conference panelists on Okinawan literature
-
Kinjo Misaki, Takuma Sminkey, and Victoria Young.
I am also verygrateful for all the knowledge and support I received at the
University of the Ryukyus during my time there for my dissertation research.
My primary advisor and mentor Nakahodo Masanori gave generously of his
time and vast knowledge of Okinawan literature and the Battle of Okinawa.
Acknowledgements vii
I was also able to take classes and seminars with the late Okamoto Keitoku
-
as well as Shinjo Ikuo. The late Sakima Reishin, Karimata Shigehisa, and
-
Nakama Keiko all let me participate in their Okinawan language / Uchina-
guchi classes at Ryudai, always patiently answering my questions. During
TuesdayafternoontalksessionsinNakahodo-sensei’sresearchofficeIhadthe
fortune of interacting with scholars such as Kurosawa Ariko, Yakabi Osamu
(who passed away far too early), and Tanaka Yasuhiro as well as writers
Sakiyama Tami, Arakawa Akira, and Kishaba Jun. Moriyo Shimabukuro’s
friendship and research advice was invaluable, and Yamazato Katsunori and
Kina Ikue have always supported my work. I learned much from fellow
graduate students Gabe Satoshi, Kuda Chiharu, Nakada Akiko, Tomari
-
Hitoshi, Tamaki Eriko, and my Uchinaguchi tutor Iha Eriko.
Research for the for the book was supported financially by a scholarship
for research in Japan from the Japan-America Society of Hawaii, a graduate
fellowship from the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of Hawaii,
and a Harada Tasuku Graduate scholarship in Japanese Studies. Funding for
postdoctoralresearchtripstoOkinawaandJapanwereprovidedbytheAsian
Languages and Literatures Department and Asian Studies Program at the
University of Vermont.
Mark Selden’s suggestions and interest in my project have been invaluable,
and I thank Hannah Mack, Stephanie Rogers, and Leanne Hinves at Rout-
ledge for guiding me through the editorial process. Thank you also to Sally
Serafim for editing help with Chapter Five.
I had tremendous help from my family. Thanks to my grandparents and
Uncle Kenny, I have never had to worry about a roof over my family’s head
duringmy timeinHawaii.Mysisterhas alwaysbeen generousand supportive,
and my parents’support and faith in me kept me sane, healthy, and (for the
mostpart)calm.WithoutmywifeSanaeanddaughterJasmyn,Ineverwould
have finished. I cannot thank you enough for always being there for me.
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Introduction
Medoruma Shun (b. 1960) has emerged as one of Okinawa’s leading literary
figures and critical intellectual voices since receiving the coveted Akutagawa
Prize in 1997 for his short story “Suiteki” (Droplets). He won the prestigious
-
Kawabata Yasunari and Kiyama Shohei literary prizes in 2000 for his short
story “Mabuigumi” (Spirit Stuffing, 1998) andwrote the screenplay for Fu-on:
The Crying Wind, which received the Montreal Film Festival Innovation
Prizein2004.Hehas continued towrite criticallyacclaimedfiction,including
the short story “Umukaji tu chiriti” (With a Vision, 1999), the novella
“Guncho- no ki” (Tree of Butterflies, 2000), and the novels Niji no tori
(Rainbow Bird,2006) and Me no oku no mori (Forest at the Backof My Eye,
2009). His critical essays and social commentary have appeared in leading
local and national newspapers, journals, magazines, his personal weblog, and
twobookcollectionsofhisnon-fictionwriting.OkinawanintellectualArakawa
Akira claims that the successive awarding of the Akutagawa Prize to
Matayoshi Eiki in 1996 and Medoruma in 1997 symbolically represents the
-
passing of the Oshiro Tatsuhiro era, and the arrival of Okinawa’s literary
future.1 The growing numberof translations of Medoruma’s fiction, including
English, Chinese, Egyptian, Russian, and French, indicates the growing
interest in his writing internationally.
While Medoruma, the son of two survivors of the Battle of Okinawa,
addressesabroadrangeofissuesinhiswork,hiswritingaboutOkinawanwar
memory and trauma stands out as particularly powerful and important. His
most critically acclaimed and award-winning fiction has been about Okinawan
war memory, and he repeatedly writes about the Asia-Pacific War in both
fiction and non-fiction. Approximately one third of Medoruma’s fiction,
-
including two of his three novels to date, Fuon: The Crying Wind and Forest
attheBackofMyEye,focusonwarsurvivorsand theafter-effectsofthewar
ontheirpostwarlives.HeregularlyanalyzesandcommentsonOkinawa’swar
legacies in connection to contemporary political issues and the US military
bases in his social commentary, and has often been a featured speaker or
panelist in symposia in Okinawa and Japan about the Battle of Okinawa.
Through his groundbreaking and prize-winning fiction, his editorials, essays,
blog, and speaking engagements, Medoruma has been bringing attention to