本論文主要探討加拿大日裔作家小川樂(Joy Kogawa)所著作的一本關於歷 史以及傷痛經驗的小說《歐巴桑》(Obasan)。加拿大的日裔移民於二次大戰中受 到了加拿大政府無情的迫害,他們被驅逐、被監禁、被送往集中營,他們的財產 被沒收充公。然而這一切的真相被掩蓋──就如同被藏置於潘朵拉的盒子裡一般。 作者小川樂藉由這本書重構歷史真像,並且於書中描述敘述者娜歐蜜(Naomi) 如何透過兒時的回憶揭開被刻意壓抑的歷史,藉由這些敘述,她漸漸地揮別加諸 於她身上的層層枷鎖──這些枷鎖不僅阻礙了她的人際交往,更讓她的國家認同 產生了危機。本論文也同時探究移民家庭中,不同的世代之間的愛與矛盾。家人 的愛化解了矛盾,也讓書中的女主角最後敞開了心胸,擁抱外面的世界。

This thesis examines how Joy Kogawa’s outstanding, award-winning novel, Obasan (1981) presents speech as a useful weapon to break through the silence occluding the protagonist’s social relations with others, and how different generations within the Japanese-Canadian community deal in their own ways with the racial discrimination during and after the Second World War. After her uncle’s death, Naomi, the protagonist and the narrator of the novel, recalls the memories before and after the outbreak of the Second World War, but inevitably the tragic experiences she has been through leak into those recollections, bringing readers into her silenced past, which consists of stories that official histories have long occluded.
Naomi, brought up by Obasan and her uncle, learns Obasan’s way to cope with the struggles of the past; gradually, she becomes incapable of expressing her inner feelings. For a long time, she remains traumatized and repressed, drifting toward nowhere. Undeniably, Naomi is haunted by her past; she blames herself for the absence of her beloved mother and for the sexual abuse carried out by her neighbor who is a white man. Her difficult situation indicates the circumstance that Japanese Canadians face during and after the Second World War. Since Naomi is brought up by her uncle and Obasan, it seems that there is no gap between Obasan (Issei, the first generation, immigrating from Japan) and Naomi (Sansei, the third generation) until Aunt Emily (Nisei, the second generation, born in Canada) shows up. In the course of adopting themselves to the adopted culture / nation, the three generations forge national identity differently. The Issei expect an idealized environment where they can be shown approval and respect, but they are usually less assimilated into the dominant society because of language and cultural barriers or strong desires to preserve their traditions and values. They stand in a contrast to the Nisei, who are active in politics because they eagerly seek to identify with the adopted country. In the novel, Obasan, who has pure nostalgia for the good old days, and Emily, a word warrior living in sound, respectively represent the Issei and the Nisei. Naomi has repressed her painful memories, and due to the fact that she is raised by Obasan and Uncle, she adopts a more traditional attitude as the Issei and becomes attached to the ideal past. This is why Naomi disagrees with Emily, who keeps urging Naomi to face her past. Conflict arises between them. Yet under the influence of the Nisei, Naomi as a Sansei mediates between the two generations, confronts the truth, accepts her own situation, and finally opens the door to the outside world and the future.


Table of Contents

摘要………………………………………………………………………………………. i
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii
Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………iv
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….1
The Second World War and Japanese Canadians………………………………… .2
Brief Biography of Joy Kogawa and the Impacts of Obasan……………………… 5
History, Diaspora, Memory: Joy Kogawa’s Obasan…………………………………8
Generational Difference………………………………………………………………. 10
Trauma and Memory………………………………………………………………….. 11
Emily and Obasan: Opposite Ways of Dealing with the Past……………………… 15
Diaspora and Exile……………………………………………………………………. 20
Japanese Canadians and Indigenous People……………………………………… 23
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………. 24
Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………... 26
Translation of Obasan……………………………………………………………………29

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