(Re)Animating “Comfort Women” Memories: Fantastical Abstractions and Metaphorical Violence

Abstract

This project explores the intersection of public memory, violence, and the relationship between new media representations and the viewer in the context of Sujin Kim’s (2021) animated short film, Unforgotten. To expand on current discussions of “comfort women” activism and the intersection of public memory and animation studies, I use a close reading method to identify four main representations: “comfort women” as metaphorical objects; “comfort women” as surreal alternative bodies; “comfort women” as the physical land; and “comfort women” as unseen and implied bodily forms. I explore the affordances and the limitations of the animation form and investigate the nuances of the film’s relationship with the viewer. This documentary demonstrates the powerful potential of animation as a site for exploring sensitive subjects with metaphorical and fantastical elements to create disjointed narratives that replicate the traumatic, fragmented memories of “comfort women”. Throughout history there have been efforts to render their narratives unintelligible through silencing and discrediting the survivors; but they and others have continually attempted to tell their stories. Despite their stories’ suppression and the film’s limitations, Kim’s film provides an alternative mode of representing and witnessing stories of the past.

Keywords:

• Animation
• comfort women
• memory
• new media representations
• trauma

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).