Abstract

In this thesis, I argue that Miné Okubo's repeated self-portraiture in Citizen 13660 asserts her authority of the soul author of the text, forcing her reader to acknowledge the perspective in which the story is being told. Through the images of herself, she makes clear the fact that the story is filtered through her personal experience, rather than the widely accepted understanding that the novel is a universal story. While the written account strives for a sense of objectivity, the images of Okubo, especially when analyzed through the context of her contemporaries, including comics and photographers, shows how her work focuses on a creation of self and the centrality of authorial voice. Working within some of the traditions of other artists, her intentional subversion of others clearly states her intentions, particularly through her use of direct eye contact within the images. This allows her to confront her viewer, proving a counter narrative to the other depictions of the incarceration while making herself the central figure of each scene. Her work is not only a historical document, but a collection of personal and group portraiture to remind her reader of the individual lives affected by the Japanese American Incarceration. The hybrid text offers a nuanced understanding of how her individual experience impacts the way that she told her story and in turn the way that the audience understands her role as an author and artist.

Degree

College and Department

Humanities; Comparative Arts and Letters

Rights

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