Joy Kogawa listed in The Toronto Star's "Essential Book List"
For Canada Day, the Toronto Star examined what is considered essentially Canadian. They chose judges in all culture categories, who had a few months to compile the top 10 most significant and essential Canadian works. Guess what made the top 10 in books?!
Obasan (1981)Joy Kogawa
It's not often a piece of fiction gets read aloud in the House of Commons, but such was the case with Obasan. The novel played a crucial role in the Japanese-Canadian redress settlement. A blend of fiction and documentary fact, Kogawa's lyrical and moving novel sheds light on the Canadian government's racist policies toward Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Centred on the protagonist Naomi, a third-generation Japanese Canadian, the novel interweaves past and present as it traces her struggle to unravel the veil of secrecy behind her mother's mysterious absence during wartime. A fiercely nationalistic novel, Obasan nonetheless demands that we take a closer look at the myth of the multicultural nation, and at citizenship and belonging in Canada.
