Cross-Cultural Analysis of Postwar Repatriation Narratives in Japanese and Asian Literatures

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project contributes to the study of postwar repatriation narratives in Asia by serving as a cross-cultural examination of the relationship between Japanese repatriation literature, or hikiage bungaku, and postwar narratives of migration and return written and published in other Asian languages. After World War II, millions of repatriates and returnees undertook voyages of return, both to Japan and to other countries across Asia. Memories and reinterpretations of these journeys were the topic of a significant number of literary works, and recent research on repatriation literature written by Japanese repatriates (hikiagesha) has begun to reveal the significant and ongoing influence of repatriation on the postwar world.This project expands the scope of ongoing research on Japanese repatriation literature not only by highlighting the inherently international nature of Japanese repatriation, which necessarily involved complex movements across national borders and contact between people from vastly different backgrounds, but also by applying insights from the study of Japanese repatriation literature to new contexts outside of Japan. In particular, the project is engaged in exploring the mutual influence of postwar repatriation narratives that have usually been interpreted within the context of particular national histories and national literatures. Such analysis of the bidirectional movement of both people and texts promises to enhance our understanding of war memory, postwar international relations, and the functions and effects of literature.