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A review by jellyfishes
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Honestly? I think this was great. It is well-written and clear, and its central claims emerge naturally from the text. Usually I'm not super into such straightforward narrative histories (e.g. [b:The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan|721931|The Great Partition The Making of India and Pakistan|Yasmin Khan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328827936l/721931._SX50_.jpg|708170]), but I actually think this worked really well. I hesitate to say I enjoyed it (the subject is not one which can be enjoyed), but I'd something like that is true of the reading process itself. Also, this is clearly written for an American (or perhaps Western European) audience. And that's not really a problem (Chang makes it clear from the outset that it is in fact her goal), but I did find myself wishing for more, particularly from the Chinese perspective. This isn't really a valid criticism, though, given that so much information is, for various reasons, more readily available from Euro-American sources. What I'm really saying, I guess, is in perfect alignment with much of Chang's point: that the silence of victims (coerced or otherwise) is profoundly tragic, and leads to tremendous gaps in understanding about the Rape, its causes, and its outcomes. 20 years out of the book's publication, with nearly all victims and perpetrators dead, this point is only more devastating.
On that note, the historical significance of this book is also worthy of mention, and I can see why its publication generated so much controversy (for lack of a better word) upon its release. One can only hope that truth is not squashed any further, but even this provides little recompense, for witnesses are now few and far between; many of those still alive were probably themselves born of genocidal rape in 1938.
Academically, I am of course fascinated (if that word can be used) by atrocity, and this book makes me want to learn more about Japan in China, South Korea, SE Asia, and elsewhere. I would be interested to engage with a comparative history of empire and atrocity, particularly between Japan and the Western European imperialists. It also sparks my interest further in reading about women in war and genocide (both as perpetrators and as victims), particularly the role played by sex (consensual or not) and rape. I think Chang did well to express the significance of sexual violence alongside murder and mutilation to the tyranny of Imperial Japan.
But, ultimately, there is nothing which can be said that means anything without the knowledge of the horror and the tragedy of the Rape. And perhaps even that cannot be fully known or spoken about, simply because it is too terrible, too horrific, to even fully comprehend.
On that note, the historical significance of this book is also worthy of mention, and I can see why its publication generated so much controversy (for lack of a better word) upon its release. One can only hope that truth is not squashed any further, but even this provides little recompense, for witnesses are now few and far between; many of those still alive were probably themselves born of genocidal rape in 1938.
Academically, I am of course fascinated (if that word can be used) by atrocity, and this book makes me want to learn more about Japan in China, South Korea, SE Asia, and elsewhere. I would be interested to engage with a comparative history of empire and atrocity, particularly between Japan and the Western European imperialists. It also sparks my interest further in reading about women in war and genocide (both as perpetrators and as victims), particularly the role played by sex (consensual or not) and rape. I think Chang did well to express the significance of sexual violence alongside murder and mutilation to the tyranny of Imperial Japan.
But, ultimately, there is nothing which can be said that means anything without the knowledge of the horror and the tragedy of the Rape. And perhaps even that cannot be fully known or spoken about, simply because it is too terrible, too horrific, to even fully comprehend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, and Torture