Stories that Make History: The Experience and Memories of the Japanese Military ›Comfort Girls-Women‹

Open Access Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2020

Stories that Make History

The Experience and Memories of the Japanese Military ›Comfort Girls-Women‹

Edited by: The Research Team of the War and Women’s Human Rights Center
Translated by: Angella Son

Volume 3 in the series Genocide and Mass Violence in the Age of Extremes

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110670523

Overview
Contents

About this book

Open Access

What would it be like if your existence was erased for half a century? This is the reality for the Korean comfort girls-women whose lives had been erased since the time of the expansion of comfort stations by the Japanese military in 1937. This book is an effort to bring these women back to life and to make their voices, experiences and memories available to future generations. The experiences of Korean comfort girls-women are a paradigmatic example of how military sexual violence can obliterate the dignity of women and shame them into nonexistence. This book examines how the turning of their innocence into inadequacy, actively by the Japanese government and passively by the Korean government and its people, and also by the world, compounded their long, miserable suffering for half a century until Kim Hak-sun broke the silence in 1991 with the support of Korean activists. The relentless and courageous efforts of Korean comfort girls-women and activists on the road to healing and justice are shared here. These efforts made it possible for us to hear their horrific stories, which are embedded with numerous and intense traumas, allowing them to unfold and be shared on the road to justice and healing.

Author / Editor information

Angella Son, Drew University, USA.

Topics

Frontmatter Open Access Download PDF	I
Translator’s Preface Open Access Download PDF	VII
Acknowledgments Open Access Download PDF	XV
Preface Open Access Download PDF	XIX
Contents Open Access Download PDF	XXV
Introduction: The Stories of the Survivors of the Japanese Military Comfort Girls-Women: The Making of the Memories and Meaning Open Access Download PDF	1
Explanatory Notes Open Access Download PDF	13
Glossary Open Access Download PDF	15
“I Never Dreamt, Not in My Wildest Dreams, That So Many Soldiers Would Come to Me Like That”: Gong Jeom-yeop Open Access Download PDF	17
“You Japs, Without Your War, Why Would We Have Gone There?”: Kim Hwa-ja (Pseudonym) Open Access Download PDF	41
“It Is Like a Dream That I Survived. But an Utterly Terrifying Nightmare of a Dream”: Chung Seo-un Open Access Download PDF	63
“When I Try to Speak of What Is Buried in My Heart, It Feels Like My Heart Is Bursting”: Kang Il-chul Open Access Download PDF	85
“How Can I Avenge Myself?”: Seok Soon-hee (pseudonym), Ahn Jeom-soon (real name) Open Access Download PDF	109
“That History, At First, I Was Ashamed About It, So I Was Not Able to Talk Very Clearly”: Lee Ok-seon Open Access Download PDF	131
“Never, Ever Forget”: Lim Jeong-ja Open Access Download PDF	153
“Do Not Ask Me About My Past Life. It Pains My Heart”: Roh Chung-ja Open Access Download PDF	177
“You Come and Give Us Compensation and Beg Us for Forgiveness”: Jang Jeom-dol Open Access Download PDF	199
“To Whom Shall I Say This? Does Anyone in Heaven or on Earth Know What I Went Through?”: Kim Bong-yi (pseudonym), Choi Seon-soon (real name) Open Access Download PDF	221
“There Was Not a Thing I Could Do that I Wanted”: Kim Soon-ak Open Access Download PDF	245
“It Passed Along With the Blow of Wind and Waves of Water, Time Has”: Gil Won-ok Open Access Download PDF	267
The Story of Failed Interviews: The Silence of Cho Yi Seon, the Secret of Kim Dduk Bbal: Jungae Park Open Access Download PDF	293
Some Works on Comfort Girls-Women Open Access Download PDF	303

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
Pages
- Front matter: 30
- Main content: 303
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 32
Keywords: Violence; Korea; Trauma research; Suppression

eBook

Published: August 24, 2020
ISBN: 9783110670523

Hardcover

Published: August 24, 2020
ISBN: 9783110670295