HIEA 115: Medium post #3

I think the main question being posed here is quite interesting regarding the nature of history-writing because any narrative of history can be questioned on the basis of truth and context, thus involving morality and ethicality. For example, any documentation surrounding significant events in history essentially has a centric ideology, in that whatever is recorded is done so with a certain purpose and perspective. However, it is always up for interpretation. In terms of using archival materials to represent certain events in history, such as the ‘buraku’ and Okinawan accounts, it is different from erasing their history because these accounts are being re-surfaced and thus being interpreted in a different way than it was before. I think the idea of family relationships and dynamics can be used as a way of understanding this idea through the experiences and relationships during the pandemic. For example, using the family ledgers to interpret the work conditions of Iha Yoneko may reveal a glimpse of life during a time where a nation reproducing imperialist ideals through the economy was given priority over the lives of its citizens, but it does nothing to truly highlight the Iha family dynamic or solidify any emotions related to these experiences. Similarly, during the pandemic, some family units may have experienced many hardships or even many benefits relating to their job, or other work-related conditions, but this doesn’t ultimately reflect or represent their family dynamic. There could be many confounding variables at play, and ones that history may not capture could have been the cause of certain relationships and families turning out the way they did due to the pandemic.

Centering these experiences, particularly those relating to specific family dynamics can transform the way historians understand human behavior and how we react to certain events in history, how those reactions then create a ripple effect in cultural reactions and understandings ultimately affecting how those events are perceived by society and not necessarily about the facts of the events. In terms of experiences and relationships during the pandemic that could be documented and dug through for historians to evaluate, I would feel comfortable to a certain extent having my personally lived experiences as represented through written reflection a part of collective history, but I don’t know how comfortable I would be having that be associated with my name and identity. Thus, reflecting on the ethics of writing other people’s histories, although it can resurface or even introduce new perspectives and ideas regarding certain topics pertinent to history, for personal reflections, I feel as though maintaining a sense of anonymity, such as with the unnamed elderly ‘buraku’ woman, allows for these historical narratives and formulated opinions to stay relatively objective, less invasive and more about how these accounts can highlight the sentiment and context during that time.