"Sharing Our Brokenness": The Other's Silence, Boundary-Crossing, and Sharing in Joy Kogawa's Obasan

doi:10.6271/fd.2016.26.1.01

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Title:	"Sharing Our Brokenness": The Other's Silence, Boundary-Crossing, and Sharing in Joy Kogawa's Obasan
Authors:	Deng, Chiou-Rung
Keywords:	Joy Kogawa ； Obasan ； silence ； boundary-crossing ； sharing
Date:	2016-12-01
Issue Date:	2018-03-02 12:14:10 (UTC+8)
Publisher:	成功大學外文系
Abstract:	This paper aims to reconsider the other's silence in Joy Kogawa's Obasan, which represents the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. What underlies the ethnic other's silence, described as ＂steadfast＂ as the stone in the novel's prologue, is the tendency to transcend boundaries and the ethics of sharing and accommodating other people's needs. More specifically, in response to the nation-state's inhospitality and its politics of demarcating a border line between citizens and non-citizens, Kogawa's novel focuses on the other's tendency to cross the boundaries between self and non-self, between self and the objects, or between the self and the landscape. Also, the idea of sharing is highlighted; despite being driven out of their home, the homeless other still share what remains with those in need. Finally, out of consideration for other people's needs, Naomi's absent mother keeps silent in order to protect her children from the trauma of the horrifying truth. In turn, Naomi comes to realize what silence conveys and to share her mother's brokenness. Only by ＂sharing our brokenness,＂ in Kogawa's words, can the wholeness of an ostracized community be reclaimed and the lost members be brought home.
Relation:	Fiction and Drama
DOI:	10.6271/fd.2016.26.1.01
Appears in Collections:	[Graduate Institute & Department of English] Journal Article

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