Status : Verified
| Personal Name | Gulinao, Marie Beatriz del Rosario |
|---|---|
| Resource Title | Building global memory from the grassroots the hibakusha in war memory efforts 1946 to the present |
| Date Issued | June 2026 |
| Abstract | Current trends in global history and memory politics necessitate Japan to renegotiate its collective memory of the Second World War. Existing scholarship on the subject is critical of the Japanese state’s attempts at denial or rationalization of their role as aggressors. They also highlight the significant role of the hibakusha—victim-urvivors of the atomic bomb—in countering state propaganda. However, literature on hibakusha memory activism is largely based on their efforts in Japan and in the United States. In East and Southeast Asia, scholarship on war memory negotiation is limited mostly on state-initiated strategies, revealing a gap in the role of grassroots-initiated efforts. The present research intends to fill this gap through an assessment of hibakusha-led efforts on war memory negotiation from 1946 to the present. The research conducted a qualitative analysis of hibakusha testimonies as published in the Asahi Shimbun and the manga Barefoot Gen: Ang Karanasan ni Gen; and semi-structured interviews with founders and members of hibakusha-led nonprofit organizations such as Asian Network of Trust – Hiroshima (ANTHiroshima), Philippines-Hiroshima Exchange through History and Peace Education Projects (PHETHAPEP), and Pamana Rin Tayo (PART / “Let us be successors too”). Through this assessment, the research identified the potencies and limitations of civil society in general and hibakusha activism in particular, in leading war memory negotiation between perpetrators and their victims. Thus, the research shows how grassroots actors and organizations can direct discourse not only in global history and memory, but in contemporary global issues as well. |
| Degree Course | Master of Arts in Asian Studies |
| Language | English |
| Keyword | hibakusha; grassroots; global history; memory activism; Second World War |
| Material Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
Preliminary Pages
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Category : F - Regular work, i.e., it has no patentable invention or creation, the author does not wish for personal publication, there is no confidential information.
Access Permission : Open Access