Hey everybody!

It’s been quite some time since my last post and I’d like to treat you all with another now.

Over the last few weeks, we have been analysing and learning about Joy Kogawa and her controversial book – Obasan. The true reason for the title is unknown, but it is the Japanese word for ‘aunt’ and we can draw many conclusions due to the fact that her aunt plays one of the major roles in the book and in her life. To further enhance our understanding of the book and to dwindle into the mind of Joy Kogawa at the time of writing the book, our ASTU class was taken to the “Rare Books and Special Collections” library at the Irving K Barber Institute on campus. Unfortunately, I missed this visit and hence, had to go there myself and gather information. Due to this reason, I will be giving you readers a gist of the documents I felt were important and significant enough to alter interpretations.

Every author follows a journey to write and publish a book. A book not only contains a story, but also reflects some form of personal memory or event that was influential in the author’s life. In this case, Joy Kogawa reflects on the hardships that Japanese Canadians faced during WWII, while also giving us her (a child’s) perspective. She also includes incidents of personal trauma and by doing so, bridges the gap between personal and shared memory and brings about the term of collectiveness. Out of the several documents I viewed, the fan mails and letters from significant authorities were the most appealing to me as I, naively, viewed Obasan as only a book by another victim of trauma, not knowing the extent to which it has reached and helped several people.

Obasan was written well after the traumatic events that the Japanese Canadians had to face. I looked at one of the letters that Joy received a year after publishing the book. It sought to express her love for the book and suggest a poem that she wrote that Joy could possibly use. More importantly, the letter stressed on the fact that she was a Canadian who wasn’t writing out of guilt for what her forefathers did, but rather out of respect and sympathy for what she faced as a child. Another fan mail was from a young girl in the 10th grade, appreciating Joy’s strength, asking for advice and most importantly, relating to her struggle. These letters prove that Obasan is not merely a book about trauma, but has also reached out to several others who can relate to her story and this makes for a comfortable atmosphere for anyone who has experienced such trauma. As the first letter suggests, the book is also linking and uniting the Canadians and the Japanese Canadians as they heal their relationship post-WWII. What surprised me the most, was a letter that the Prime Minister of Canada at that time had written to Joy. It expressed his desire to read the book during his holidays.

I feel that the book has a wide audience as Joy intends to educate the readers about the story of the Japanese Canadians through writing about her painful experiences as a child and also interweaving her personal memory and history. Obasan is a book that has not only brought together two generations and countries, but has also stood to serve the purpose of providing victims with a comfortable space to relate and to educate its vast audience on the importance of creating a better future through reflecting and remembering the past.