“So where did it all begin?”

For the past few weeks our ASTU class has been reading and analyzing Joy Kogawa’s Obasan. This book is a fictional story about the Japanese-Canadian internment during the era of World War II, a real-life tragedy that Joy Kogawa experienced herself.

Our class took a field trip to Irving’s Rare Books and Special Collections space and had the opportunity to explore the Kogawa Funds to uncover the hard work that was put into this novel. Before we delved into the artifacts, Chelsea gave us a little background information. She introduced archives as documents created and received by people and organizations. They are primary sources, organized by provenance (which meant it was organized by the creator and not the subject it was categorized under), and are natural and unique. Fonds are organized very carefully – Fonds are organized into series which are organized into files and which are then in turn, organized into items, the most specific aspect.

Exploring the Kogawa Funds was a fascinating experience and felt so surreal. As I looked around and examined her Fonds, I came across a variety of artifacts. In the folders set out I looked into scholarly articles analyzing and praising her various books, drafts of Obasan, an original outline of the book, Japanese readers’ interpretations of Obasan’s accurate imagery, and I even found ledgers. My classmates had also discovered letters from editors, and ordinary people.

When I was observing the drafts, I found that a part of one page was cut out. This brought me to wonder why Joy Kogawa or someone else removed a specific portion of work. When I was reading the Japanese’ readers interpretations, Kogawa responded to their praises and had written that she had “none of this in my mind, it was your creation and discovery.” The mere fact that these documents were in the hands of Joy Kogawa and those interested in her work, that these were interactions from at least three decades ago, led me to respect the value that each holds. Each artifact was magnificent in its own sort of way, and each had also broadened my perspective of what stories really are.

I believe we often forget the effort put into the book because we’re often caught up in the plot line itself. We praise the work of the author through the way in which he or she illustrates the climax and unravels the hidden mysteries as stories reach their resolutions. Because of the great fluidity of the words, the beauty of the illustrations, we become unaware of the research, the dedication, the blood and tears if I may, authors put into novels such as Joy Kogawa and her Obasan. The Fonds have shown us this side of the work, and it really is amazing to discover.

This visit has also provoked me to think about my accessibility to my own family history. To learn and uncover my family history, I would have to travel to the Philippines and search for boxes of photographs, memories, letters, and more that have preserved what is left of my ancestors’ stories about their lives – and many belongings have diminished due to the flooding tragedy that had occurred years ago. These original documents holding a place in Irving’s Rare Books and Special Collections space in UBC makes me feel really lucky because people don’t get this opportunity to get their hands on personal archives everyday. Joy Kogawa’s kind donation to present her archives in a post-secondary institution is something I continue to cherish.

Have a great weekend!
KYLO