Author: W. Michelle Wang, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore - ORCID

Abstracts:
- »Michelle Wang’s exposition of the value and function of fictional testimonies through examinations of Mary Lynn Bracht’s White Chrysanthemum (2018) and Jing‑jing Lee’s How We Disappeared (2019) reminds us of the purpose of writing and reading historical fictions and narratives that have been (and sometimes still are) regarded as “lesser” than factual accounts. Wang interrogates the ethics governing such a relationship between fiction and history and reminds us that such fiction answers a need for narratives that cultivate empathic and ethical listening, especially when faced with the challenges of collecting testimonies from victims who are deceased or who would prefer to stay silent, an observation that other chapters in this collection also engage with.« (Lim, Yiru and Kit Ying Lye. »Introduction. Reading Trauma and Violence: Expanding Horizons.« Reading Violence and Trauma in Asia and the World. Edited by Yiru Lim et al. Source: New York 2025: p. 4.)

- »Among some of the worst human rights violations of the twentieth century was the establishment of “military comfort stations” throughout Asia during World War II. This essay examines two novels centered on this atrocity, as represented in Mary Lynn Bracht’s White Chrysanthemum (2018) and Jing-jing Lee’s How We Disappeared (2019). The essay posits that one important way such novels function is as fictional testimony (which is not a substitute for survivor testimonials); rather, these works of fiction enact the challenges of witnessing that survivors have historically faced and the essay argues for the value of such fiction as a complementary mode to historical testimony.« (Source: Taylor & Francis Online)

Contents:

	Fictional Testimony (p. 26)
	Structures of Resistance: Unequating Identity with Victimhood (p. 27)
	Lost Stories of the “Disappeared” (p. 30)
	Challenges of Witnessing: Fictional Testimony as Complementary Mode (p. 32)
	Notes (p. 35)
	Works Cited (p. 35)

Wikipedia: History of Asia: History of Japan / Shōwa era | History of Asia: History of Korea / Korea under Japanese rule | History of Asia: History of Singapore / Japanese occupation of Singapore | Literature: American literature / Mary Lynn Bracht | Literature: Singaporean literature / Jing-Jing Lee | Literature: Works about comfort women / How We Disappeared, White Chrysanthemum | 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