Speaker: Namhee Han, Queens College, City University of New York

Abstract: »What happens when the digitally mediated images of comfort women are reused and repurposed, transcending geographical and epistemological boundaries in Asia and the transpacific? This paper explores the contentious presence of “comfort women” in contemporary documentary films that use archived visual documents of them, exploring the concept of image critique (Manghani, 2008). “Comfort Women” refers to the system of sexual slavery imposed by imperial Japan between 1932 and 1945. It is usually unknown who filmed these women. After 1945, visual records of them were disseminated to and owned by archives in China, Russia, and the United States. Since the 2000s, some images have been digitally restored and exhibited through transnational networks or reused by filmmakers. Twenty-Two (GUO Ke, China, South Korea, 2017), Shusenjo (Miki Dezaki, U.S.A., 2018), and Koko Sunyi (LEE Suk-Jae, South Korea, 2022) show discrete approaches to the images of comfort women and the possibilities and limits of digital intermediality. My paper consists of three parts. First, I introduce the production and reception of the documentaries. Second, taking “image critique” as an analytical tool, I explicate both a critique of images and the use of images explored in the documentaries to address historic problems of war commemoration and gender-based violence. Finally, I analyze the specific images reused, appropriated, or intentionally ignored, offering a complex interactive account of global politics, human action, and visual ecologies. Situated at the threshold between archival practices in inter-Asia and intermedia theory, this work contributes to the fields of digital archiving and affective experiences.« (Source: Online Program)

Wikipedia: History of Asia: History of Korea / Korea under Japanese rule | History of Asia: History of Japan / Shōwa era | Film: Documentary film / Films about comfort women | 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