2001 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
In Search for Ethnic Identity as Depicted in Japanese Canadian Literature
| Project/Area Number |
10610474
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
英語・英米文学
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| Research Institution | Kyoto Women's University (2001)
Kyoto Women's Junior College (1999-2000)
Hiroshima Prefectural Women's University (1998) |
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Principal Investigator |
MIHARA Mie Kyoto Women's University, 文学部, 教授 (70181112)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1998 – 2001
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| Keywords | Japanese Canadian literature / ethnic identity / concentration camp experience / memories / redress movement / Roy Kiyooka / Kerri Sakamoto / Hiromi Goto |
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| Research Abstract |
I was able to know how actively Japanese Canadian writers have engaged in creating new works after visiting some important literary figures like Roy Miki, Joy Kogawa and others, all of whom kindly gave me some information on the backgrounds of Japanese Canadian literature. The reviews and articles which were collected from the New Canadian, Books in Canada, and Canadian Literature were helpful for analyzing and examining the subject of ethnic identity depicted in Japanese Canadian literature. After studying the literary works of Japanese Canadians, I focused on Roy Kiyooka's complex feelings toward his ethnicity. Obliged to evacuate to an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Kiyooka felt ashamed of being Japanese Canadian and did not wish to become involved with the Japanese Canadian community. His poems, however, deal with the recurring theme of his ethnic identity, His love for his family and childhood memories were part of his motivation to attend the Powell Street Festival, even though he did not want to admit that he felt connected with Japanese Canadian community. I also focused my study on Hiromi Goto's work which emphasizes how important it is to establish subjectivity , or identity for the Other in order to live in a host society which rejects the Other's culture. As for Kerrie Sakamoto, this author represents what a strong influence "memories" of concentration camps have on the Japanese Canadians' inner world. Writers such as Kerri Sakamoto and Rahna Reiko Rissuto, a Japanese American, have established their ethnic identity and choose to write on the "memories" of internment camps.
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Research Products
(8 results)
