Mémoires métisses de la guerre dans A Gesture Life de Chang-rae Lee
Franklin Hata, the main character of A Gesture Life is a Japanese immigrant of Korean descent who seems to lead a peaceful life in a small American city but he is in fact haunted by his past as a medic in the Japanese army during World War II, by the crimes and atrocities per...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Presses universitaires de Rennes
2015-07-01
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Series: | Revue LISA |
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Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/8781 |
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author | Michaël Taugis |
author_facet | Michaël Taugis |
author_sort | Michaël Taugis |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Franklin Hata, the main character of A Gesture Life is a Japanese immigrant of Korean descent who seems to lead a peaceful life in a small American city but he is in fact haunted by his past as a medic in the Japanese army during World War II, by the crimes and atrocities perpetrated by soldiers and officers. Although the past and the present appear to be poles apart in his experience, they are interwoven in the novel, through the imagery of water and fire in particular. This interweaving shows that, to certain extent, his past experience in the war re-enacts itself in the present and it reveals the recurrent fraudulence which undermines his relationships with the other characters. This re-enactment also underlines the character’s problematic position as an often passive bystander and voyeuristic witness confronted with what war exposes: humane evil and vulnerability. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-08T02:20:28Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-bb0d85b248a74402a210b2359da59749 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1762-6153 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-08T02:20:28Z |
publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
publisher | Presses universitaires de Rennes |
record_format | Article |
series | Revue LISA |
spelling | doaj.art-bb0d85b248a74402a210b2359da597492024-02-13T14:36:51ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532015-07-0110.4000/lisa.8781Mémoires métisses de la guerre dans A Gesture Life de Chang-rae LeeMichaël TaugisFranklin Hata, the main character of A Gesture Life is a Japanese immigrant of Korean descent who seems to lead a peaceful life in a small American city but he is in fact haunted by his past as a medic in the Japanese army during World War II, by the crimes and atrocities perpetrated by soldiers and officers. Although the past and the present appear to be poles apart in his experience, they are interwoven in the novel, through the imagery of water and fire in particular. This interweaving shows that, to certain extent, his past experience in the war re-enacts itself in the present and it reveals the recurrent fraudulence which undermines his relationships with the other characters. This re-enactment also underlines the character’s problematic position as an often passive bystander and voyeuristic witness confronted with what war exposes: humane evil and vulnerability.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/8781hybriditytestimonymemorywar crimesJapanese armyKorean-American literature |
spellingShingle | Michaël Taugis Mémoires métisses de la guerre dans A Gesture Life de Chang-rae Lee Revue LISA hybridity testimony memory war crimes Japanese army Korean-American literature |
title | Mémoires métisses de la guerre dans A Gesture Life de Chang-rae Lee |
title_full | Mémoires métisses de la guerre dans A Gesture Life de Chang-rae Lee |
title_fullStr | Mémoires métisses de la guerre dans A Gesture Life de Chang-rae Lee |
title_full_unstemmed | Mémoires métisses de la guerre dans A Gesture Life de Chang-rae Lee |
title_short | Mémoires métisses de la guerre dans A Gesture Life de Chang-rae Lee |
title_sort | memoires metisses de la guerre dans a gesture life de chang rae lee |
topic | hybridity testimony memory war crimes Japanese army Korean-American literature |
url | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/8781 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT michaeltaugis memoiresmetissesdelaguerredansagesturelifedechangraelee |