Author: -

Abstract: »The comfort women — ‘halmonis’ — system is an expression of colonial and gendered violence. It reflects the exploitation of female bodies as a means to demonstrate power over a national body, seen in the mnemonic processes of the ‘halmonis’ which are closely tied to narratives around nationhood in China, Japan, and South Korea. Henceforth, memory practices are deeply embedded in their sociopolitical sphere, where hegemonic discourses played an essential role in fostering periods of silence and voice practised by the victims. Hence, the localisation of silence and voice reflects the positioning of actors within post-conflict societies and negotiation processes around guilt, shame, and victimhood. As time had to pass for the ‘halmonis’ to garner the space to voice their suffering, mnemonic processes have been of great importance for reconciliation processes. It is due to the operational characteristics of memory as a means to make the past present in a de-linear manner, denying chronological orders, that it offers opportunity for societies to ‘come to terms with the past’. Similarly, technology transcends the historical temporal structure, creating a spaceless testimony which upholds presents through time in the shape of textual, visual, and vocal data. Technology thus promoted and offered new opportunities for reconciliation for the ‘halmonis’ and between societies.« (Source: The Grimshaw Review of International Affairs)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. 166)
	1. Introduction (p. 167)
	2. Theoretical Background (p. 168)
		2.1 Memory, History and Reconciliation (p. 168)
		2.2 Technology and Memory (p. 169)
		2.3 Silence (p. 170)
	3. Case Study: The ‘Halmonis’ (p. 171)
		3.1 Womanhood and Nationhood (p. 171)
		3.2 The Role of Technology to Reconcile Gendered Violence (p. 172)
		3.3 The Transnational Memoryscape and Civil Society (p. 175)
	4. Conclusion (p. 177)
	Reference List (p. 179)

Wikipedia: History of Asia: History of Japan / Shōwa era | History of Asia: History of Korea / Korea under Japanese rule, History of South Korea | Prostitution: Forced prostitution / Comfort women | Sex and the law: Wartime sexual violence / Wartime sexual violence in World War II | War: Pacific War / Japanese war crimes