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<p>Drawing on Corinne Duyvis’ #ownvoices movement, this study examines how authors’ identities—whether expressed as trauma victims themselves (own-voices) or non-victims (non-own-voices)—influence the representations of trauma, the authenticity and the reader’s reception of two Japanese picturebooks pertaining to traumatic events. Focusing on <i>Sagashiteimasu</i> (<i>Searching</i>, 2012), written by American poet Arthur Binard, and <i>Hiroshima no Ko</i> (<i>Children of Hiroshima</i>, 2025), based on a poem by Gorō Shikoku, a Hiroshima-born poet whose younger brother was killed in the atomic bombing, this study compares a non-own-voice and an own-voice account of the Hiroshima atomic bombing. The representations of trauma are analysed using the notion of narrative strategies and Dominick LaCapra’s trauma theory, while the picturebooks’ efforts to achieve authenticity are explored within the framework of Matías Martínez’s three dimensions of authenticity. The findings demonstrate that both picturebooks achieve authenticity, not solely through authorial identity, but through carefully constructed narrative and multimodal strategies. While <i>Searching</i> lacks authenticity as appropriate origin, it achieves authenticity as true reference and stylistic strategy through reflexive perspective-shifting and the anthropomorphisation of inanimate objects, alongside other multimodal narrative techniques. <i>Children of Hiroshima</i>, by contrast, fulfils all three dimensions of authenticity, yet notably avoids autobiographical confession, instead employing a collective, apostrophic voice and iterative temporality. Through distinct stylistic approaches, these works foster empathy, enhance awareness, and demonstrate that authentic representation can arise from both own-voice and non-own-voice authorship. This highlights the critical role of narrative strategies over authorial identity in effectively portraying traumatic historical experiences.</p>

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Narrating Hiroshima: Trauma, Authenticity, and Authorial Identity in Two Japanese Picturebooks

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月20日

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  • Cheng-Ting Chang

摘要

Drawing on Corinne Duyvis’ #ownvoices movement, this study examines how authors’ identities—whether expressed as trauma victims themselves (own-voices) or non-victims (non-own-voices)—influence the representations of trauma, the authenticity and the reader’s reception of two Japanese picturebooks pertaining to traumatic events. Focusing on Sagashiteimasu (Searching, 2012), written by American poet Arthur Binard, and Hiroshima no Ko (Children of Hiroshima, 2025), based on a poem by Gorō Shikoku, a Hiroshima-born poet whose younger brother was killed in the atomic bombing, this study compares a non-own-voice and an own-voice account of the Hiroshima atomic bombing. The representations of trauma are analysed using the notion of narrative strategies and Dominick LaCapra’s trauma theory, while the picturebooks’ efforts to achieve authenticity are explored within the framework of Matías Martínez’s three dimensions of authenticity. The findings demonstrate that both picturebooks achieve authenticity, not solely through authorial identity, but through carefully constructed narrative and multimodal strategies. While Searching lacks authenticity as appropriate origin, it achieves authenticity as true reference and stylistic strategy through reflexive perspective-shifting and the anthropomorphisation of inanimate objects, alongside other multimodal narrative techniques. Children of Hiroshima, by contrast, fulfils all three dimensions of authenticity, yet notably avoids autobiographical confession, instead employing a collective, apostrophic voice and iterative temporality. Through distinct stylistic approaches, these works foster empathy, enhance awareness, and demonstrate that authentic representation can arise from both own-voice and non-own-voice authorship. This highlights the critical role of narrative strategies over authorial identity in effectively portraying traumatic historical experiences.