Narrative boundaries: The ethical implications of reinterpreting atomic bomb histories

The goal of this dissertation is to investigate the ethical implications of narrative as one form of discourse on historical events. Focusing upon the atomic bomb narratives in Japan, I analyze the formation and transformation of the Japanese atomic bomb narrative and challenge this prevalent framework as applied in discussions of the atomic bomb incident. Acknowledging that the atomic bomb narrative is most often confined to a nation-state framework, I begin with an analysis of the debate surrounding the Smithsonian Institution's 1995 exhibition of the Enola Gay and other items and documents relating to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Then curator Martin Harwit's plan to view the atomic bombing from the ground faced fierce opposition, primarily from WWII veterans who deemed the exhibition "unpatriotic." This debate precisely displays the nation-state framework in which the atomic bombing incident was situated.; Contrary to the predominant assumption as expressed in the Smithsonian debate, the atomic bomb narrative in Japan was not always considered part of a "national" experience. Rather, it was suppressed first by the Japanese government and then the SOAP (Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers), which occupied Japan from 1945 to 1951. With this in mind, I look at the transformation of the portrayal of the atomic bomb victims in various media (primarily paintings and literature), which contributed to a popularization of the atomic bomb experience as a Japanese "national" narrative. In the 1980's, the mythologization of the experience of the atomic bomb culminated in its being regarded as a privileged experience, unique to the Japanese. The subsequent victim narrative functioned to conceal Japan's wartime aggressions and atrocities.; I then go on to challenge this predominant atomic bomb narrative by exploring voices outside the conventional nation-state framework, particularly those of lesser-known hibakusha: Koreans (including residents of Japan), Japanese-Americans, Okinawans, Allied POWs, and a Japanese religious minority group, the Nagasaki Catholics. The study of marginalized voices, I argue, broadens our perceptions beyond the dominant narrative. Interpretation which goes beyond the confines of the existing framework is therefore an ethical task which enriches our knowledge of historical events while facilitating good actions.