Starting to Narrate His/Her Experience as a "Hibakusha"

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  • 体験を語り始める
  • タイケン オ カタリ ハジメル

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Abstract

This study examines how a hibakusha (survivor of the atomic-bomb) start to narrate his/her experience after the end of the war. Although the hibakushas' narrative has been analyzed from the view point of politics and nationalism, this study focuses on the hibakusha as individuals and examined the development of their identity with respect to personal and environmental factor. The analysis revealed that the time when hibakusha start to narrate is related to their degree of suffering. Four distinctive features concerning the content and time when they start to relate their experiences were identified: the narrative for themselves as sufferers in 1950s, the narrative to others who were not sufferers in 1960s and 1970s, the narrative for others who are victims in 1980s, and the narrative for the future generation in 1990s. The hibakusha appears to construct his/her atomic-story of these four types of narratives through the processes of dialogue between the story-teller and the audience. The dialogue in turn is reflection of the characteristics of each time period, the hibakusha's life stage and the social environment which surrounds the hibakusha. Therefore, continuous dialogue exchange acts as a process through which he/she can find a new identity as a "hibakusha".

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