War Brides as Transnational Subjects in Mori Reiko’s The Town of the Mockingbird
abstract
Mori Reiko’s 1979 Akutagawa prize-winning story The Town of the Mockingbirds portrays a community of Japanese war brides in a small military base town in Midwestern America. The narrative explores how the release from prison of Jun, a war bride imprisoned for killing her son, impacts on the community. Employing Françoise Lionnet and Shu-mei Shih’s theory of “minor transnationalism” this article explores how the protagonist, Keiko, connects with her community across binaristic lines of gender, culture and nation.
Keywords: Françoise Lionnet • Mori Reiko • Language Hybridity • War Brides • Shu-mei Shih • ‘Minor Transnationalism’ • Transnational Literature • “The Town of the Mockingbirds”
permalink: http://doi.org/10.14277/6969-152-2/CFJS-5-1