Shame and Reconstruction: Transformation of Kazuko’s Identity in Nisei Daughter

Abstract

Monica Sone’s Nisei Daughter offers a deep exploration of the growth and identity struggles of the protagonist Kazuko, a second-generation Japanese American, during World War II. This memoir not only records her childhood in the United States and her experiences in the internment camps but also reflects on how she confronts racial discrimination and identity crises. Drawing on Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s theories of affect, particularly her discussions of shame, this paper examines the formation and manifestation of shame in the memoir and its impact on the Nisei protagonist Kazuko’s identity. Shame plays a dual role in Kazuko’s process of identity formation: it is both a reflection of external oppression and a driving force for self-reconstruction. Ultimately, driven by shame, Kazuko attempts to reconstruct her identity by accepting and integrating her cultural background.