University essay collection

'Obasan': An Exploration of Unstable Canadian Identity

Magicseeker

Dr. Margaret Anne Smith

English 3509

13 April 2019

Obasan: An Exploration of Unstable Canadian Identity

In Obasan, Joy Kogawa questions the nature of cultural, individual, and national identity, and whether they are mutually exclusive terms. Kogawa also explores the question of 'who' has the authority to decide these identities. The dream sequences narrative of Naomi's early childhood is filled with confusion as inaccurate identity labels — in the form of stereotypes and false accusations of being enemy spies —are imposed upon her family by government institutions and perpetuated in general 'white' society. The white community, as well as official documents, refuse to recognize anyone with visible Japanese heritage as 'Canadian citizens' when she is a child. As Naomi ages, she continuously meet people who make misinformed assumptions about her nationality based solely on her appearance. Kogawa depicts the difficulties characters encounter when attempting to assert their own identity, the racially motivated abuse they suffer from white community members, and the self-hatred instilled in third generation (Sansei) through adopting negative self-perceptions influenced by Japanese stereotypes in popular North American mainstream media. The narrative makes a subtle comparison between the Japanese-Canadian and Indigenous population's position in society and tactics the government used to make them 'disappear' from public view. The novel also aligns the Canadian government with Nazi tactics of placing Japanese-Canadians in work camps. By providing comparisons that society has already acknowledged as atrocious offences, Kogawa is forcing readers to recognize the severe injustices Canada committed against the minority population its own citizens.

Canadian identity has often been defined in relation to the United States; more accurately, by contrasted themselves against the United States. This comparative behaviour has contributed to Canada's 'angel complex', as they promote human rights initiatives, diversity, and reconciliation efforts; The United States tends to be more present in the public sphere, and thus, their actions receive larger global attention. When comparing themselves and their history against the United States, Canada measures their crimes on a metaphorical scale, typically concluding that their own actions are 'less severe', and therefore somehow lessens the historical magnitude of the injustices, crimes, and genocide that has been committed. In order to maintain that pristine reputation of the country, the past atrocities are widely ignored or dismissed, because they do not coincide with this perfectly cultivated image. Only in the past 30 years, have strides been made toward an acknowledgement and public apology for these actions; however, where recent years have seen an increase in Indigenous history and material taught in educational institutions, Japanese-Canadian relocation and repatriation remains a largely dismissed element of Canadian history. In her novel Obasan, Kogawa personalizes the events of 'relocation', government-sanctioned racial discrimination and exclusion, and failure to recognize Canadian citizenship that continued even after the second world war ended in 1945.

Kogawa presents a repeating juxtaposition of the Nakane and Kato family identity throughout Obasan. The government, schoolmates, and white members of society declare anyone of visible Japanese heritage/ethnicity, to also be of Japanese nationality; where Aunt Emily —whose views do not necessarily represent the perspectives of all Japanese-Canadians— adamantly insists and on being recognized as a Canadian citizen. This repetition of 'Japanese' —sometimes shortened to 'Japs' in the novel— is said as an accusation: "All the Jap kids at school are going to be sent away and they're bad and you're a Jap" (Kogawa, 63). The context in which this identity is assigned, is designed to show the negative stigmatization that white society has attributed to the term: "Over here, they say 'Once a Jap always a Jap', and that means us. We're the enemy" (Kogawa, 74)