Legacies of the Comfort Women of World War II

by Margaret D. Stetz (Editor), Bonnie B. C. Oh

The stories of the former comfort women have galvanized both Asian and non-Asian intellectuals working in a variety of fields. Scholars of Asian history and politics, feminists, human rights activists, documentary filmmakers, visual artists, and novelists have begun to address the subject of the comfort system; to take up the cause of the surviving comfort women's sturggles; to call attention to sexual violence against women, especially during wartime; to consider the links among militarism, racism, imperialism, and sexism; and to include this history into 20th-century political history. This volume contains a cross-section of responses to the issues raised by the former comfort women and their new visibility on the international stage. Its focus is on how theorists, historians, researchers, activists, and artists have been preserving, interpreting, and disseminating the legacies of the comfort women and also drawing lessons from these. The essays consider the impact and influence of the comfort women's stories on a wide variety of fields and describe how those stories are now being heard or read and used in Asian and in the West.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

246 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2000

About the author

Margaret D. Stetz is the Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities at the University of Delaware.

Reviews

[Zoe Turner]

This book is more focused on survivor perspectives and human rights, analyze historical memory and the complexity of colonial rule.
It also includes survivor testimonies, discussions of postwar reparations and how the issue has been used in international diplomacy, it is a really interesting book!!!

[M.K. Sheehan]

Powerful read, there is no restitution, and until recently there were not even efforts to recognize or apologize to these women.