Contesting Canada's Narrative of Nation through Canadian Nikkei Children's Literature

Abstract

This paper argues that the representations of Canadian Nikkei identities in modern Canadian Nikkei children's literature about incarceration contest Canada's narrative of nation. Adopting a postcolonial framework based on Homi Bhabha's ideas on nation and narration, I use an interview with Canadian Nikkei children's book author Susan Aihoshi combined with close readings of three works by Canadian Nikkei authors to show how they query the narrative of nation during the period in and around the Second World War. The paper uses the children's books Naomi's Road (2012) by Joy Kogawa, A Child in Prison Camp by Shizuye Takashima (1991), and Torn Apart by Susan Aihoshi (2012). It highlights how, despite unequal access to political power, media, and other resources; Canadian Nikkei writers can challenge long-held ideas of what makes the nation.