2025/06/24 by Sejin Jeong · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Japanese History and Culture #Cinema and Media Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/18692729.2025.2489182
openalex publication_date 2025/06/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
This study examines the representation of war and defeat in post-war Japan through sociology, political science, and history, focusing on documentary literature (kiroku bungaku, 記録文学) that addresses colonial war and military defeat narratives. It explores the portrayal of Japanese individuals in prisoner-of-war camps in the former Soviet Union and Joseon during Japan’s imperial collapse. By analyzing narratives from the Bibliography of Post-War Documentary Literature (Kōsa Jimu Sankō Shiryō, Volume 4), compiled by the National Diet Library in 1949, the study investigates the rise of the genre in post-war Japan, particularly through works like A Story of the Border (Kokkyō monogatari, 国境物語) and The Flowing Stars Are Alive (Nagareru hoshi wa ikiteiru, 流れる星は生きている). The popularity of documentary literature invites reflection on whether individual memories can be unified into a collective history. This study argues that the genre has allowed individuals to reinterpret shared experiences with state power as subjective narratives, distinguishing them from historiographical notions of truth. First, it highlights Japanese documentary literature as an underexplored yet critical lens for understanding war and defeat through the perspectives of everyday citizens. Second, it addresses the stagnation in Japanese war literature’s dichotomy of perpetrator versus victim. This research breaks away from that binary approach, offering nuanced insights into how shared memories can reshape historical discourse.