Abstract
This thesis examines the Japanese language poetry written by Kibei Nisei in Tessaku, a literary magazine published within the Tule Lake Relocation Center during the World War II Incarceration of Japanese Americans. By translating and studying this work, I hope to contribute a better understanding of the experiences of the Kibei, the generation of Japanese Americans born in the United States but educated partially in Japan.The Kibei-produced poetry in Tessaku is incredibly varied in its subject matter, but has a number of key themes which emerge, including home, nostalgia, identity, and politics among others. I analyze this poetry from both a historical and literary point of view, and attempt to draw connections between the writers’ positionality and their writing. My thesis is informed by the theses and dissertations of other scholars in the field of Japanese American studies, in addition to archives, newspapers, interviews, and War Relocation Authority records. My thesis challenges dominant narratives surrounding Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II, and complicates ideas around resistance and what it means to be a “political” writer. The voices of Kibei Nisei, a marginalized group even within the context of the camps, have been silenced in the past, but are not only worthy, but deserving of further study. Now is the time for us to read their words.