Re‐reading the Archives: Intersections of Ethnography, Biography, and Autobiography in Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement

Hirabayashi, Lane Ryo

doi:10.1111/0149-0508.00079

Cited by 2 publications

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“…The lessons of Japanese American internment are still with us today, as American society continues to grapple with the difficult issues of social control and justice. As one historian cautions, ''[A]s rich as these archival holdings may be as primary source materials, they must be 're-read' both critically and with imagination'' (Hirabayashi 1998). Recognizing the uses of documents for social control and social justice can lead to more nuanced understandings of the role that archives play in societies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“No longer a silent victim of history:” repurposing the documents of Japanese American internment

Hastings

2010

Arch Sci

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During World War II, the US government detained over 120,000 Japanese American men, women, and children in internment camps. Two-thirds were American citizens, yet they were treated as enemies of the American people. After the war, historians and activists used archival records created during internment to prove that it had been unjustified by military necessity. They succeeded in overturning Supreme Court rulings and achieved redress for former internees. By relying on the documentary record created during internment and preserved in archives, it was later possible to hold the American government accountable for the violation of people's rights. The very documents that were originally used to control the Japanese American population became the documents that enabled recognition of injustice and led to the conclusion of the redress movement.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“No longer a silent victim of history:” repurposing the documents of Japanese American internment

Hastings

2010

Arch Sci

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“…The WRA Information Division, which oversaw public relations in all media, used photography as a way to promote the idea of resettlement to a larger American public that had grown fearful of its incarcerated Japanese American population. 55 Accordingly, the WRA deliberately avoided documenting obvious visual reminders of federal incarceration and focused instead on producing conventional imagery of Japanese Americans engaging in normal everyday activities, albeit within the confines of an armed and guarded prison. Moreover, this strategy supported the dual goals of WRA photography, namely, the positive portrayal of its federal program and the representation of Japanese Americans as loyal citizens.…”

Section: Pictures Of Everyday Life During Incarcerationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking for Jiro Onuma

Takemoto¹

2014

GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies

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This essay explores the hidden dimensions of same-sex intimacy and queer sexuality for Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. Queer accounts of Japanese American wartime history are rare because of the atypical structure of the incarceration camps, which organized inmates by family units, the prevalence of intergenerational narratives, and dominant themes of loyalty, innocence, and civility. Jiro Onuma, a gay immigrant imprisoned by the federal government at Topaz concentration camp in central Utah, worked in the prison mess hall and was an avid fan of homoerotic male physique magazines. How did this dandy gay bachelor from San Francisco survive the isolation, humiliation, and heteronormativity of imprisonment? The essay recounts the trials and tribulations of looking for Onuma in the mute photographs and other material remains that constitute his archival collection. This inquiry reflects not only my desire to provide a living context for queer artifacts but also grief over the impossibility of fully reanimating these fragmented traces of remembrance. Far from providing a coherent narrative of Onuma's life, this mode of queer speculation demonstrates how affective attachments to the past can lead to unexpected possibilities for engaging with queer history, memory, and the archive.

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Re‐reading the Archives: Intersections of Ethnography, Biography, and Autobiography in Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

“No longer a silent victim of history:” repurposing the documents of Japanese American internment

“No longer a silent victim of history:” repurposing the documents of Japanese American internment

Looking for Jiro Onuma

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