Professor Joshua Pilzer launches his New book
Hearts of Pine: Songs in the Lives of Three Korean Survivors of the Japanese “Comfort Women.”
January 10, 2014
Professor Joshua Pilzer of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music led an intimate discussion in support of his recently published ethnographic work, Hearts of Pine: Songs in the Lives of Three Korean Survivors of the Japanese “Comfort Women.” The event, sponsored by the Centre for the Study of Korea and the Asian Institute, drew graduate and faculty attendees from a variety of departments. Hearts of Pine is the culmination of eight years of fieldwork among Korean survivors of the Japanese military’s wartime “comfort women” system. While decades of secrecy regarding their sexual enslavement have given way to mass protest and public outcry in more recent years, the taboo surrounding the open discussion of this dark period of history is still strong. Professor Pilzer looks to music, in lieu of conversation, as a resource for survival and understanding through fieldwork conducted at the House of Sharing, an organization established for the housing of former comfort women and for the preservation of their experiences.
Early in his presentation, Professor Pilzer spoke of his work in Hearts of Pine as an effort to avoid homogenizing the reality of sexual slavery through an emphasis on the diversity of experience among survivors. The presentation introduced the three informants at the heart of Professor Pilzer’s work: Pak Duri, Mun Pilgi, and Bae Chunhui. A brief biography describing the incredible hardships faced by each was provided (Mun Pilgi’s journey from Manchuria to Seoul by foot was one of many memorable anecdotes). The audience was also given the unique opportunity to listen to these women in song. Professor Pilzer’s recordings capture renditions of folk songs and wartime standards as they are remembered by participants. Providing lyrics in Korean, English, and Japanese, Professor Pilzer emphasized the variations in these performances. Pak Duri’s old folk melody, for example, incorporated modern, bawdy lyrics composed by the singer. A reflection of her nomadic, cosmopolitan youth, Bae Chunhui sang tunes familiar to some audience members in tongues known only to others, unifying a diverse crowd.
When the floor was opened to questions, Professor Pilzer was asked to comment on the subject of Japan’s reluctance to issue formal apologies for wartime atrocities. While stating that it is difficult to speak in generalities about the sentiments of former comfort women, Professor Pilzer noted that frequent contact with the Japanese, especially visitors and activists at the House of Sharing, has made it easier for survivors to separate the Japanese people from the figure of the Japanese state. This more balanced understanding is held in contrast to the stronger nationalist sentiments of Korean citizens with fewer opportunities for this sort of interaction. Professor Pilzer also spoke to the difficulty of preserving the memory of former comfort women through song. Where some works of art are more easily separable from their source, the intimate connection between performer and performance poses a unique challenge to those trying to capture it on tape. Professor Pilzer’s attention to these details is well placed: his efforts to present those personal, unwritten histories of South Korea, found only in song, proved a resounding success.
Read the event description including speaker bio and abstract here.
written by: Nicholas Feinig, a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology and an Affiliate at the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto.
photos by: Betty Xie, Contemporary Asian Studies undergraduate student, 2014 expected.