"We Are Not What You Think": Cultural Memory, Group Identity and Resistance in Contemporary Ethnic Historical Fiction

This thesis analyzes how contemporary works of US ethnic historical fiction employ culturalmemory as counter-myth to challenge exclusionary discourse about US history. In thischallenge lies the potential for social justice by centering the experience of marginalized groupsin memory discourse to revise or enhance historical understanding, both for marginalizedgroups themselves and for “outsiders.” Two novels serve as case studies in analyzing theformation and shaping of cultural memory in contemporary ethnic historical fiction: JulieOtsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine and Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes’ Hula: A Novel negotiatecompromised identities and the legacies of policy targeting Japanese Americans andHawaiians, respectively. In so doing, the novels enter cultural memory discourse. The analysisfurther highlights the connections between genre, narrative situation and cultural memory. Thenarrative situation contributes to turning the novels into counter-myth, as it challenges majorityperspectives and inverts power structures, while reinforcing a sense of self and group identity.The collective invoked through the narratives helps mitigate the identity conflicts individualswithin the groups face. The narratives re-establish a common shared foundation and expose thehypocrisy of legislation, while establishing clear boundaries to outside groups. Historicalfiction, I argue, complements revisionary historiography in significant ways through thedevelopment of counter-myths, as writing in the genre foregrounds the emotional essence andtorment of the past that cannot be captured in a strictly academic context.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Kansas

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Evers, Jens

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Caminero-Santangelo, Marta

• American literature
• Literature
• American history
• Cultural Memory
• Hawaiian
• Historical Fiction
• Identity
• Japanese American

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright held by the author.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:19450

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/38488