- Overview
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This picture book was written based on the testimony of Sim Dal-yeon who was one of the former "comfort women (those forced into sex slavery by the Japanese military)."
- Book Intro
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This picture book was written based on the testimony of Sim Dal-yeon who was one of the former comfort women. Around 1940, during the Pacific War, Grandma Sim was abducted at the age of 13 by the Japanese military and suffered immeasurable pain. She was abandoned and wandered after the war before returning to the homeland taken by someone, but her body and mind were so greatly damaged that she lost her memory and spent time like that for several decades. In a novel-like event, she was found by her younger sister and carefully nursed, finally regaining her mind. After her sister passed away, she began to live with her grandnephew in a small rented apartment in Daegu. Grandma Sim is now spending her remaining years having horticultural therapy and producing pressed flower art. The author interviewed her several times at the apartment in Daegu and consulted her testimony which is contained in The Comfort Women from Joseon Who were Forced into Sex Slavery by the Japanese Military to make a picture book.
While making the book, the author modified rough drawings 12 times and had them repeatedly reviewed by children, parents, and teachers. As a result, the finalized book is understandable for elementary school or middle school students with the aid of their teacher or parent.
The gist of the issue of Japanese military's "comfort women" is that it involved the systematically controlled sexual violence committed by the militaristic nation, through which the humanity of these women was destroyed. Clearing this point can free children from blindly detesting a certain nation and its people altogether. It will help them ponder upon what to do and how to do it to prevent the kind of tragedy from happening again with conscientious Japanese people as well as the whole humankind. Grandma Flora approaches the issue of "comfort women" from such perspective. It is why the soldiers who sexually assaulted the heroine Grandma Flora have no face but are expressed with their uniform in the illustrations. They are a metaphor for the institutional sexual violence and dehumanization. This way, the author tried to convey the refined grief. It seems that the persistent fury gains the power to get to the root of the matter.
- About the Author
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Kwon Yoonduck
- Award
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Republic of Korea Publication Culture Award, 2010, Children and Adolescent Award
- Selection
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Happy Reading in the Morning, 2011, Recommended Book