Topic 5: Gender, the Nation and Memory

1. What is national memory?

National memory refers to how societies remember and represent their past.

It is often communicated through:

• Statues and monuments.

• War memorials.

• Museums.

• National ceremonies.

• Public commemorations.

• Historical narratives.

These representations are not necessarily neutral. They reflect decisions about whose histories are remembered, celebrated or excluded.

2. Monuments and political power

Monuments can communicate:

• National identity.

• Political authority.

• Historical values.

• Ideas about citizenship and belonging.

• Which individuals or groups are considered important.

They can also become sites of protest when communities challenge the histories and values they represent.

Examples in your lecture include:

• The Colston statue in Bristol.

• The Millicent Fawcett statue.

• The Fearless Girl statue.

• The Potocari Memorial Centre.

• The Vietnam Women's Memorial.

• The Motherland Calls monument.

The central question is: Who gets remembered, and who gets forgotten?

3. Gender and national identity

National identities are often constructed through gendered ideas.

For example:

- Men may be represented as soldiers, protectors and national heroes.

- Women may be represented as mothers, victims, carers or symbols of national sacrifice.

These representations can influence how societies understand citizenship, patriotism and national belonging.

4. Colonial memory and historical responsibility

National memory can become politically contested when societies confront histories of:

• Colonialism.

• Slavery.

• War.

• Sexual violence.

• Racial oppression.

The removal, preservation or construction of monuments can therefore become a debate about historical responsibility and contemporary political identity.

5. The comfort women memorials

The comfort women were women and girls subjected to sexual exploitation and slavery by the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces, particularly during the period of Japanese imperial expansion and the Second World War.

Memorials have been created to recognise their experiences and demand historical acknowledgement.

South Korea (2015–2017)

• In 2015, Japan and South Korea reached an agreement involving an expression of remorse and Japanese financial support.

• The agreement did not establish the legal responsibility of the Japanese government in the way victims and campaigners demanded.

• The South Korean public rejected the agreement.

• In 2017, Japan temporarily recalled its ambassador in protest over memorial statues.

San Francisco and Osaka (2018)

• San Francisco installed a memorial recognising the comfort women.

• Osaka ended its sister-city relationship with San Francisco in protest.

• Osaka's mayor objected to the wording of the memorial, particularly its attribution of sexual enslavement to the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces.

6. Gender, race and denialism

Key thinkers: Tomomi Kinukawa (2021) and Ayse Zarakol (2010)

Kinukawa examines how denial of historical atrocities can involve more than simply disputing facts. It can also reproduce racialised and gendered hierarchies by marginalising the experiences of colonised women.

Zarakol examines how states may deny historical wrongdoing because acknowledging it can challenge national identity and ideas of national pride.

The case demonstrates how:

• Women's experiences of sexual violence can be marginalised.

• Colonial histories influence national identity.

• Governments can resist memorials that challenge national narratives.

• Historical memory becomes a political struggle.

Key takeaway: National memory is political. The way societies remember history can reinforce or challenge existing gendered, racialised and colonial power structures.