The Hyphenated Films of Steven Okazaki : Japanese Identities in American Film

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  • スティーヴン・オカザキの外国系市民を描いた映画 : アメリカ映画における日系人のアイデンティティ

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Abstract

This paper investigates how transnational Asian American identities are constructed in the context of Japan’s diasporic Japanese American community. The research in this paper focuses specif ically on the contemporary films of the third generation Japanese American director Steven Okazaki, whose documentaries portray diasporic communities created by the legacy of the Asia-Pacific conflict. It is through the shared communal trauma in the Asia-Pacific region that Okazaki generates a transnational discourse of remembrance that transcends the confines of the nation state and implies the existence of a larger Pan-Pacific community. Okazaki’s documentaries also contextualize the notion of transnationality in a global world as it contributes to a specific Pan-Pacific identity formation that undermines the hegemony of cultural nationalism, homogeneity, and ethnocentrism through an emphasis on the heterogeneity inherent in hyphenated identities. Special emphasis is given here to the reception of Japanese American documentary films in America. To what extent do Okazaki’s films contribute to the discourse of a Pan-Pacific cinema and how are his films received in Japan?

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