文章基本信息

标题：Travels in Atomic Sunshine by Robin Gerster
本地全文：下载
作者：David Palmer
期刊名称：Transnational Literature
电子版ISSN：1836-4845
出版年度：2009
卷号：1
期号：2
出版社：Flinders Humanities Research Centre
摘要：The Occupation of Japan in the wake of World War II’s conclusion has been dominated, in terms of historiography, by Americans who focus on the U.S. and Japan without any reference to Australia. Robin Gerster’s Travels in Atomic Sunshine is a significant contribution to criticising this neglect, found even in John Dower’s landmark Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Aftermath of World War II (1999). Gerster reclaims the legacy of the Australian troops who were part of BCOF (British Commonwealth Occupation Forces) and their role in the Occupation. He tells a story, with its negative and positive sides, that has been ignored not just by America and Japan but also by Australia, including the Australian War Memorial Museum in Canberra. On ANZAC Day, Australians remember Gallipoli, Kokoda, but not ‘the Forgotten Force’ (as he calls them) of postwar Occupation Japan. (275) It is true that Australia had little input into Occupation policy, and none in terms of overall command and choice of troop location. However, Gerster points out several reasons why the Australian troop presence had a significant impact on Australia and Australian-Japanese relations. The 1940s was a decade of intense racism toward Asians in Australia, in part from the continuation of the official ‘White Australia’ policy under the Curtain and Chifley governments. The prejudice among ordinary Australians, however, underpinned this policy. A constant question raised by Gerster is how could a country with such a staunch anti-Japanese outlook possibly bring ‘democracy’ to postwar Japan and its people? Invariably it required going against the tide of military policy and Australian public attitudes, but also the prejudice and disrespect toward Japanese all too common among a majority of BCOF soldiers.