Book Highlight: The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration
The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration, signed by author Frank Abe, is available in our online store.
By Shannon Reagan, Beyond the Barbed Wire Project Manager
As a collective, the dozens of authors featured in The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration illuminate a deeply nuanced range of human emotions, from grief and joy to despair and fury. Yet in the hands of editors Frank Abe and Floyd Cheung, their stories – which take a variety of forms – capture the collective voice of a population continuously challenged by injustice, racism, and systemic dehumanization.
Despite the volume’s slim appearance, it is dense with emotion and historical resonance. Many of the accounts are nonfiction, including letters, memoirs, and journal entries, and other selections include fiction, poetry, and songs. One of these songs, composed by jailed Heart Mountain draft resisters while awaiting trial, presumably only exists in the anthology due to some combination of luck, sentimentality, and the preservative qualities of an old leather wallet; Cheung and Abe deciphered the lyrics from an aged scrap of paper kept in a resister’s billfold for 50 years.
While some sections of the anthology may be familiar to readers, many entries are newly published.
There are several archived and forgotten pieces, as well as Japanese writings that have not been translated until now. Cheung and Abe attribute this to the lingering aftermath of incarceration, primarily “the loss of language and culture due to regulation, suppression, and the ongoing stigma of acknowledging any affinity to Japan.”
When choosing content for The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration, the editors broadened the “traditional” idea of Japanese American literature to include writing produced in camp. As a result, the anthology contains both polished and unpolished work, providing better insight into the many mindsets, ideas, and opinions of those who put pen to paper at the time. As the preface states, readers will encounter a collective voice that is “pointed rather than poignant.” On several occasions during my reading, in fact, I was not only overwhelmed by the book’s intensely personal narratives but also stunned by the fact that some perspectives are only just now coming to light.
The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration compels the reader to consider the enduring trauma of forced removal and incarceration from a broad range of perspectives. While it is a valuable and much-needed resource for educators, anyone who wishes to better understand the contemporaneous accounts of those who suffered the injustices and lingering effects of incarceration will find this anthology illuminating.
New additions to Friends of Minidoka’s online store now available! Purchase author-signed copies of We Hereby Refuse, The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration, Free to Die for Their Country and Jailer, Lawyer, Ally, Foe and more!