TRANSFORMATION OF THE SELF: A Study of Submissiveness, Trauma, Guilt and Shame in Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine (2002)

Abstract

The internment of Japanese-American civilians during the Second World War caused many of the interned traumatic experiences. This essay is a contribution to the discussion of trauma theory in literature. By applying multiple theories of oppression, racism, discrimination and intergenerational transmitted trauma to Otsuka’s novel, the essay shows that the reimagined fictionalized trauma of past generations is illustrated in a psychologically realistic way. The focus of the argument is that the characters in When the Emperor Was Divine (2002) have been transformed and that the damage done during the internment lasts and that the healing process will not result in integrated selves. Memories of guilt and shame are shaped by a geographically and socially constructed oppression and discrimination and the appropriated stereotypes of the “alien enemy” become embedded in their transformed identities.