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Collective Memory and Historical Responsibility in Contemporary Japan
Kovácsová, Petra ; Sýkora, Jan (advisor) ; Labus, David (referee)
Collective memory is a term that describes a series of memories of individuals that are shared by the collective and treated as official and socially acceptable for the group, may that be a small community or the whole nation. Memory is always selective and subjective so it cannot be taken as an equal to history. However, its value as a historical source should not be underestimated. A significant part of the collective memory in contemporary Japan is the Second World War. Even though it has been almost two generations since its end, the memories and the legacy are still vivid. The reason why is the great impact the war had on the Japanese. The country changed immensely and the society also underwent major modifications. One of them was the fact that once a proud nation deriving its origin from gods had to take responsibility for the war atrocities and accept their defeat. As my work will demonstrate, the question of historical responsibility has not been fully answered yet. There are still people who believe that Japan has not done enough to apologise and atone for its crimes and they demand action. I am using the example of the former comfort women, whose case is still open, to illustrate that there are still war-connected problems in Japan that are being overlooked or not dealt with properly....
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Role of mass media in shaping the collective memory in contemporary Japan
Kovácsová, Petra ; Sýkora, Jan (advisor) ; Labus, David (referee)
The thesis is focused on Japanese media and especially on their role in the Japanese society. Their impact is noticeable in the way of shaping the national collective memory. One of the unsolved issues of Japan's past, which still resonates in the Japanese society, is the issue of the former comfort women. From the beginning of the 1990s the thus far neglected issue has been given more media attention, which makes it an ideal study case for the influence of media on shaping the collective memory of a nation. With the help of one media that has been following the plight of the former comfort women incessantly till now, the Asahi Shinbun, the thesis documents the method, by which the issue has been dealt with, and the response of the public to the articles of this daily newspaper, which it has created. As the topic has been being discussed for over thirty years, the analysis of the articles is concentrated on two key periods: 1991-1997 and 2010-2014. Using Susan Pharr's model of the types of roles of mass media, the thesis seeks to learn what role the Asahi Shinbun plays in this issue and whether anything has changed in the last thirty years. Key words: role of mass media, comfort women, collective memory, public opinion, Asahi Shinbun
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