Hi readers and classmates!
This week in ASTU class, we read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Dr. Lugar led us to think about the characteristics of the genre of comic book, which can be said as “graphic novel”. Graphic novel is commonly characterized as fictional story, sometimes even demonstrate some elements of fantasy and heroism. On the contrary, Persepolis is a memoir of Satrapi’s childhood life presented in comic form. Thus, we say Persepolis is a “graphic narrative”.
Graphic narrative is commonly said to have a reliable and authentic content, or the “truth claim”. Persepolis is undoubtedly a real story of Satrapi; however, there are some authors writing untruthful stories to earn more money. They not only deceive the massive population of readers, but also disrespect the history and the people who directly or indirectly involved in the historical incident.
This reminds me of a similar example occurred in Taiwan. Wansei Back Home is a non-fictional narrative written by Mika Tanaka. After Japan surrendered in World War II, many young Taiwanese-born Japanese were forced to leave behind friends and properties in Taiwan and retreated with the Japanese colonial government. In her book, Mika Tanaka depicts her personal experience as an offspring of Wansei and records the process of helping many Wansei travel back to childhood places and reunion with some childhood friends in Taiwan. A documentary named after the book came out soon after the book was published in 2015.
To everyone’s surprise, Mika Tanaka disclosed her true name, Hsuan-Ju Chen, and identity as a Taiwanese rather than a descent of Wansei and admitted faking stories about her Wansei background through Facebook on January 1st, 2017. At the time when her book was published, she claimed that she is Taiwanese-Japanese mixed and had been living in Japan till she was six. The shocking confession incited public criticism. Many former supporters of Wansei Back Home are now embarrassed by their emotional reaction toward Mika Tanaka’s fabricated story. Some Wansei were actually scared that they themselves would be ever forgotten along with this period of history . Also, it goes without saying that Mika Tanaka’s fraudulent production is using the pain of memories of Wansei as a tool of gaining fame and wealth.
Last week, we have discussed about Research Ethics in SOCI 100 class, and read about Andrew Wakefield’s dishonesty in his research, in which he states that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is a source of getting autism and bowel disease. In truth, Wakefield published false research findings to profit from the financial conflicts of interest. The outcome of Wakefield’s misconduct is the public fear of vaccination in general, and a noticeable decline in vaccination rate of children is to be seen. Similar to this case, Mika Tanaka’s fraud has ethical issues in it. It is never an acceptable action to take advantage of minority’s history by writing entirely fictional story and calling it a memory of yours, not to mention making money from it. Mika Tanaka’s scandal has the potential of making the public mistrust the historical reliability or even the existence of Wansei.
Readers are not blind. Publishing a literary writing is sharing knowledge to the broader audiences. Therefore, authors should write accordingly; if you are to write a historical based narrative, then you should only include trustworthy information in your writing. Additionally, steal other people’s memories or put others into dangerous or fearful situations to benefit yourself are unethical behaviors. As a university student, we should well educate ourselves to avoid unethical behaviors as well as to distinguish them.
Sources:
Mika Tanaka admitted lying about her identity
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2017/01/11/2003662874
Andrew Wakefield
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield
