Repositioning the Narrative of the Japanese Canadian Internment through Multidirectional Memory

This essay examines how Kerri Sakamoto’s One Hundred Million Hearts (2003), Kyo Maclear’s The Letter Opener (2007), and Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being (2013) engage in the kind of multidirectional memory that Michael Rothberg promotes by making connections between the Japanese Canadian internment and other collective and individual traumas. By drawing attention to human rights issues elsewhere in the world, these narratives open new perspectives on the memories of the internment and suggest opportunities for global solidarity.