Author: -

Abstracts:
- »The history of the World Wars or any other armed conflicts in the world almost always chronicles the ‘heroic’ endeavours of the soldiers and the dissemination of political propaganda while deliberately drawing a veil over the trauma of the common people who were purposefully used as pawns in this game of power politics. It is in one of those glossed-over pages of the history of the Second World War that we can find the ignored and silenced stories of the “comfort women”, the sarcastically euphemistic term that refers to the group of women who were coerced into wartime sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army. By analysing the memoir Fifty Years of Silence by Jan Ruff O’Herne, herself a comfort woman, in the converging context of trauma and memory studies, this paper aims to shed light on the long-lasting impact of trauma on human memory and the complex interplay between remembrance and silence. This paper will attempt to interpret the recollection of the trauma as reflected in O’Herne’s memoir through the pluralistic lens of trauma studies, with special reference to the works of Michelle Balaev. It is expected that the paper will elucidate the diverse and multifaceted aspects of trauma, contextualise them within a broader framework of trauma theory, and contribute to a deeper understanding of the human response to trauma.« (Source: Article)

- »Bhaswati Bhattacharjee’s “The Muffled Memories: Tracing the Traumatic History of the Comfort Women of WWII through Jan Ruff-O’Herne’s Memoir Fifty Years of Silence” reverberates the silenced histories of “comfort women,” a euphemistic term for women coerced into sexual slavery the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War. By closely reading Jan Ruff O’Herne’s memoir Fifty Years of Silence, the essay examines the enduring impact of trauma grounded in the theoretical framework of Michelle Balaev. From a pluralistic lens, the chapter explores the multifaceted nature of trauma and offers insights into human responses to traumatic experiences and their memories.« (Source: »Introduction.« Between Trauma and Memory: Reflections Beyond Boundaries. Edited by Neha Soman et al. Singapore 2025: xi-xii)

Wikipedia: History of Asia: History of Indonesia / Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies | History of Asia: History of Japan / Shōwa era | Non-fiction: Memoir / Fifty Years of Silence | Prostitution: Forced prostitution / Comfort women, Jan Ruff-O'Herne | Sex and the law: Wartime sexual violence / Sexual violence in Asia during World War II | War: Pacific War / Japanese war crimes