Passing Time Moving Memory Sugiman Summary

In Passing Time, Moving Memories: Interpreting Wartime Narratives of Japanese- Canadian Women, Sugiman demonstrates the events of Japanese internment which occurred after the Second World War by constructing various narratives which show the role of subjectivity and interpretation. The author defines narratives as experiences of individuals that are shaped by age, generation, and one's location within hierarchies based on gender and social class. Her narratives emphasize on the loss of property, detainment, and violation of human rights of Japanese communities, displaying the representation of silent and unresisting Japanese women. She provides readers a set of consequences related with the internment which changes our understanding of the

The author portrays that the Nisei women revealed more anger and contradictory emotions of entrapment, whereas the Issei women's feelings were based on day to day survival. For example, one of the Nisei women states that it is not their fault of being born into a Japanese family, showing that they should have the same freedom as others do in society no matter what race, colour, appearance or creed they have, however the governments thinking is that only white settlers are entitled to live in Canada and not others (Sugiman, 268). This correspondence presents that physical appearance identifies these individuals as Japanese and their features were used to homogenize and the deny the social factors of their cultural identity. Sugiman influences that these individuals were judged due to their physical traits and even though they were born Canadian there outer self was still Japanese and they did not deserve a place among the rest of society, resulting in the separation of Japanese families. Additionally, correspondences written by the Issei women relate to how there oppression was strongly shaped by sexual and racial subordination. For instance, one women describes how she has so much to worry about because her husband wasn't there to provide basic necessities for her family because he was interned (Sugiman, 270). This indicates that these women confronted hardships due to the burden of supporting their families without a male provider. Sugiman exhibits how these women had heavy financial responsibilities upon them and couldn't give their children the basic resources they needed for survival. The author influences my thinking because I am able to understand the misery that these women endured and the barriers that had to face in order to provide for their families and