Description
Since World War II ""victim consciousness"" (higaisha ishiki) has been an essential component of Japanese pacifist national identity. In his meticulously crafted narrative and analysis, James Orr reveals how postwar Japanese elites and American occupying authorities collaborated to structure the parameters of remembrance of the war, including the notion that the emperor and his people had been betrayed and duped by militarists. Fluently written and flawlessly executed, The Victim as Hero will contribute greatly to the discourses on nationalism and war responsibility in Japan.
Reviews
James Orr provides the first systematic, historical inquiry into the emergence of the concept of victimhood in postwar Japan. He describes vividly how the notion of victimhood has been institutionalized through the use of elite political rhetoric, school texts, novels, films, and reparations battles, and he offers a compelling explanation for the peculiar, distorted form that moral argumentation surrounding war responsibility has taken. This is a politically and intellectually courageous study that arrives at balanced, dispassionate, illuminating, and persuasive conclusions.-Gary D. Allinson, University of Virginia; ""With courage and sensitivity, Orr goes right to the heart of postwar nationalism to show how defeat in the war encouraged pacifist attitudes among ordinary Japanese people that, in turn, provided a cultural logic for a new national identity constructed around a collectivized sense of victimhood. After reading The Victim as Hero, historians of Japan will have to reconsider prevailing assumptions about the forms and functions of Japanese nationalism. This book should be required reading for scholars of nationalism, modern Japanese culture, society and politics, and for anyone who wishes to understand the challenges and possibilities of democracy in contemporary Japan.""-Kevin M. Doak, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Book Information
ISBN 9780824824358
Author James J. Orr
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint University of Hawai'i Press
Publisher University of Hawai'i Press
Weight(grams) 440g
Reviews
James Orr provides the first systematic, historical inquiry into the emergence of the concept of victimhood in postwar Japan. He describes vividly how the notion of victimhood has been institutionalized through the use of elite political rhetoric, school texts, novels, films, and reparations battles, and he offers a compelling explanation for the peculiar, distorted form that moral argumentation surrounding war responsibility has taken. This is a politically and intellectually courageous study that arrives at balanced, dispassionate, illuminating, and persuasive conclusions.-Gary D. Allinson, University of Virginia; ""With courage and sensitivity, Orr goes right to the heart of postwar nationalism to show how defeat in the war encouraged pacifist attitudes among ordinary Japanese people that, in turn, provided a cultural logic for a new national identity constructed around a collectivized sense of victimhood. After reading The Victim as Hero, historians of Japan will have to reconsider prevailing assumptions about the forms and functions of Japanese nationalism. This book should be required reading for scholars of nationalism, modern Japanese culture, society and politics, and for anyone who wishes to understand the challenges and possibilities of democracy in contemporary Japan.""-Kevin M. Doak, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Book Information
ISBN 9780824824358
Author James J. Orr
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint University of Hawai'i Press
Publisher University of Hawai'i Press
Weight(grams) 440g
