Life at Heart Mountain : A Dynamic Network Model of a Japanese American Community during World War II

This crossdisciplinary doctoral dissertation in the field of North American Studies utilizes historical big data and dynamic network analysis to study the Japanese American community of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center during their World War II incarceration. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States incarcerated (interned) 120,000 people of Japanese descent, two thirds of whom were US citizens. Half of the incarcerated people returned to the West Coast, while the rest were dispersed across the country through the government’s resettlement program. Incarceration remains a controversial subject in the Japanese American community, and while much has been written about the era, it is an unknown topic to the general public in states that it did not directly touch. At the same time, incarceration reverberates today both in the United States and in Europe in the treatment of immigrants from Mexico or the Middle East. My objective in this study is to look at the manifestation of “loyalty,” “assimilation,” and “resistance” through networks in one of the ten incarceration camps, Heart Mountain in Wyoming. To investigate the different ways and layers of individual and community level assimilation, loyalty and resistance, I have developed a dynamic network model that reconstructs the structure, various types of networks, and their changes in the Heart Mountain Japanese American community during the war. The dynamic network model applies historical big data and network analysis, but it also draws from traditional historical sources and methods. I use diaries, government reports, and oral histories to complement the narrative and support my findings. This type of work is novel in the field of humanities and the study of past human societies, and especially my creation of multi-mode networks depicting relations between individuals and institutions, and those between institutions, instead of only individual-to-individual networks makes this a groundbreaking study. The data resulted in the construction of four multi-mode subnetworks depicting the relationships between different types of actors: administrative-political, employment, social, and geospatial. Each conveys a slightly different aspect of the community, and all layers put together as an integrated network recreates the formal Heart Mountain networks. They show division between generations (Japanese-born Issei to a large extent separated from the American-born Nisei) and genders, and that education was often the key to reaching influential positions in the community. Education was also the driving force for resettlers: those who left the camp in the early stages were either already well-educated or left to pursue college studies. It has long been understood that there was no singular incarceration experience but all too often the emphasis has been on separating only a few lines of thought. What became evident through network analysis in this study, was that depending on the context, a group of people or even an individual could be portrayed in multiple lights depending on the network and the viewpoint. This research project has demonstrated that there is enormous potential in applying dynamic network analysis to historical materials. While life at Heart Mountain cannot be reduced to nodes and edges alone, this study combined with other studies, historical narratives, diaries, and biographies enhances our understanding of this important time in American history that continues to reverberate today.

Grantor dc:publisher

Helsingin yliopisto

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Kekki, Saara

• Pohjois-Amerikan tutkimus

Statement dc:rights

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Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

URN:ISBN:978-951-51-4861-2

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/294727