Obasan

Obasan was read in a straight rush before class, a three hour drag at the library. I actually don't remember much of it, but I can't think I was missing much, as the lectures rang of making something out of nothing, pulling posttraumatic stress and histiographic metafiction out of a very simple narrative of the mistreated. Yes, Kogawa was the first to address the treatment of Japanese Canadians during World War II, and Obasan wrought change in policy, which is impressive, but as a novel, as a piece of artwork, Obasan adds little to the genre it has fallen into.

2/5