Obasan (Magill’s Choice: American Ethnic Writers)
At a glance:
- Author: Joy Kogawa
- First Published: 1981
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism, Domestic realism, Historical fiction
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, 1970’s, Family or family life, Mothers, Parents and children, Racism, 1940’s, World War II, Oppression, Canada or Canadians, Asian Americans, Atomic bomb, Japan or Japanese people, Japanese Americans
- Locales: Alberta, Canada, Vancouver, Canada, Nagasaki, Japan
The Work
Joy Kogawa’s Obasan has forced critics to include Asian Canadians in their study of ethnic literature; it is such a fine work no critic can ignore it. Kogawa has defined political and cultural connections between the Japanese immigrants of Canada and America. Both groups were held in internment camps during World War II. Their property was seized, and their families were often separated. In Canada and the United States the men of the families fought for their new countries while their wives, children, and siblings remained interred. Arguably one of the finest...
[The entire page is 718 words long]
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