Memories of the Second World War through Japanese Manga

Abstract

the World War II has divided Japanese history between what came before and what came behind. After been defeated in 1945, a new narrative of postwar Japan, separated for the militarized past one was constructed. the representation of the war in manga shows in a certain way how Japanese postwar society attempted to deal with the war and how Japan came to be what it is today. My goal is to study how World War II was remembered and depicted in Japanese comic art during the postwar and to understand which narratives were accepted and which were rejected by the society in order to configure the idea of Japanese Nation; which narratives differs from the official discourse of the role of Japan in the War, and which ones strengthens it.

Keywords

• Segunda Guerra Mundial, manga, Japón, hegemonía.