Historiebruk i Japan : skapandet av ett dominerande kulturellt minne rörande krigsbrott under andra världskriget: Nanjingmassakern och Comfort Women

Summary, in English

The aim of this study has been to, through a couple of chosen theories, examine in what way Japan as a nation can be said to have dealt with its dark past - concerning their crimes of war just before and during World War II. To do so, I have placed two chosen war crimes, namely the Nanjing Massacre and the matter of the Comfort Women, in the context of remembrance and commemorating of war, through different kinds of aspects. Those aspects are: the textbook conflict, official apologies, ruthless/unnecessary comments, and visits and commemorations at the Yasukuni shrine.

I have found during this study that the nation of Japan has not been able to generate a broadly accepted dominant cultural memory of the war. Henceforth a couple of rival cultural memories are competing and becoming an issue of national division rather than national unity. I have come to the knowledge that there are both domestic and international political factors at play, resulting in this division.

• Author: André Asplund
• Department/s: Human Rights Studies
• Publishing year: 2007
• Language: Swedish
• Full text: Available as PDF - 249 kB; Download statistics
• Document type: Student publication for the second year of a Bachelor’s degree (B essay under earlier system)
• Topic: History and Archaeology; Law and Political Science
• Keywords: War memory; Use of history; Textbook conflict; Nanjing massacre; Comfort Women; kollektivt minne; historiebruk; historiemedvetande; Japan; krigsförbrytelser; Nanjing-massakern 1937; sexuella övergrepp; Andra världskriget 1939-1945; Contemporary history (since 1914); Nutidshistoria (från 1914); Human rights; Mänskliga rättigheter
• Supervisor: Rouzbeh Parsi