Ready Reference Treatise: Obasan

“Obasan” by Joy Kogaw was first published in 1981. The novel by this Japanese-Canadian author chronologically describes Canada’s internment and persecution of the Canadian citizens of Japanese descent during the Second World War.

The story is told from the perspective of a young child. The book was selected for the ‘One Book’ in Vancouver in 2005. It is often prescribed to the University students studying English courses on Canadian literature.

The book is also given place in Ethnic Studies and Asian American literature courses in the United States and several other countries where students study English literature.

The novel teems with highly emphatic imagery of stones, silence, and streams. The imagery is noticeable throughout the story. Throughout the story there is the presence of highly interesting dreams.