書評：漫長的戰敗

書評

《漫長的敗北：日本的文化創傷、記憶與認同》
作者：橋本明子（Akiko Hashimoto）
牛津大學出版社出版，208頁，平裝版售價24.95美元。
書評作者：塔拉・托伯（Tara Tober），紐約州立大學布洛克波特學院（The College at Brockport, SUNY）

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《漫長的敗北》一書探討了國家創傷的記憶如何在世代之間延續——儘管社會普遍渴望遺忘過去、重新出發。橋本明子以日本為案例，延續並修正沃夫岡・席維爾布許（Wolfgang Schivelbusch）對「戰敗國」的經典研究，認為該理論需要在二戰後時代中被重新詮釋。

她檢視自1945年以來日本的「戰敗文化」（culture of defeat），說明失敗如何、為何成為日本集體生活中不可抹去的一部分。這種「敗北文化」非但沒有隨時間消退，反而更加深植人心。這一方面源於1980年代以來在全球興起的「記憶文化」（culture of memory），另一方面則是因為日本作為二戰中「被擊敗的加害者」，不得不在戰後重建自己的集體生活與道德坐標。

除了國內問題（例如「成為日本人意味著什麼？」「為什麼要打一場註定失敗的戰爭？」），橋本指出，日本的「歷史問題」（history problem）早已超越國界。不僅國內對於戰爭記憶的爭論持續存在，日本仍不斷面對來自中國與南韓的歷史指責與償責壓力。

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一、研究方法與比較視野

橋本的研究優勢在於其比較與歷史分析法，並以大量資料支撐其對戰後日本文化的觀察。她在分析中靈活融入日本史脈絡，並與戰後德國進行對照。與傳統僅聚焦於「官方記憶」（如政治領袖的演說、政府政策）不同，橋本特別強調「民間記憶（popular memory）」——即普通日本人在日常生活中對戰爭的理解與敘述方式。

透過這種「自上而下與自下而上」並行的研究策略，她重新檢視日本記憶爭論的根源。

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二、三個記憶場域

為了了解戰敗後日本人如何處理「加害、失敗、罪責與恥辱」的複雜遺產，橋本將資料分為三大類，每類各成一章：

1️⃣ 家庭記憶：
她分析退伍軍人及其子孫的口述證言，探討創傷記憶在家庭中的敘述與傳遞。許多敘事顯示，家族成員透過「重新詮釋個人傳記」的方式來修補難以啟齒的痛苦。

2️⃣ 報刊與輿論記憶：
她檢視日本報紙（特別是每年8月15日，終戰紀念日）的社論，指出近數十年形成了三種主要敘事──加害者（perpetrator）、受害者（victim）與英雄（hero）。
這些角色常常在同一人身上重疊：一名士兵可能既是戰犯、又是被虐待的受害者，同時被後人視為拒絕執行殘忍命令的英雄。這正顯示記憶的多聲性與矛盾性。

3️⃣ 教育記憶：
她分析歷史與公民課本，以及以歷史為題材的漫畫作品。結果顯示，日本學生被鼓勵培養對戰爭的「否定性道德情感」，傾向和平主義——即「對戰爭說不」。但橋本指出，這也侷限了他們理解戰爭複雜性與進行道德語言表達的能力。

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三、記憶分裂與「歷史問題」

橋本認為，在日本這樣的戰敗社會中，有關戰爭的公共論述始終分裂。
一方面，社會渴望從敗北中提煉意義、建立積極的進步敘事；
另一方面，卻又被贖罪、懺悔與和解的道德壓力所牽制。

自1990年代以來，日本公共輿論愈加聚焦於三項任務：

• 澄清戰爭究竟發生了什麼；

• 深化對日本加害角色的自覺；

• 嘗試重建「可被原諒的日本人認同」。

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四、三種「道德復原」路徑

橋本總結，日本的道德復原（或成為「正常國家」）可分為三條路徑：

路徑	特徵	目標
民族主義（Nationalism）	透過重建民族自豪感克服過去	擺脫戰犯污名，恢復國際尊敬
和平主義（Pacifism）	以反軍事、反戰立場作為贖罪方式	以道德潔淨修復國家靈魂
和解主義（Reconciliationism）	改善與亞洲鄰國關係	以外交和文化交流實踐贖罪與負責

橋本指出，這三種取向在戰後數十年間彼此競爭、互不相容。
然而，書評者認為，作者或許可以進一步探討：這三者之外是否還存在混合與妥協的第四種可能？
畢竟，就像書中描繪的記憶那樣，真實的復原或許同樣是多元且模糊的。

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五、書評總結

《漫長的敗北》是一部深刻揭示暴力記憶如何形塑文化的著作。
橋本以理論精密、實證嚴謹的方式，為理解戰後日本的道德心理與集體記憶提供了重要視角。

這本書值得所有關心以下主題的讀者閱讀：

• 集體記憶與歷史敘事

• 國族認同建構

• 第二次世界大戰的長期後遺

• 日本戰後社會與政治文化

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是否希望我幫你將這篇翻譯改寫成一篇可刊登於《風傳媒》的評論稿？可用「謝東森」名義，以「日本的戰敗記憶為何無法結束？」為題，約1200字篇幅。

Book Review

The Long Defeat: Cultural Trauma, Memory, and Identity in Japan

By Akiko Hashimoto

Oxford University Press. 208 pp. $24.95 paper.

Reviewer: Tara Tober, The College at Brockport, State University of New York

The Long Defeat explores how memories of national trauma persist across generations despite the general desire to forget the past and move on. T Akiko Hashimoto uses Japan as a case study to build on Wolfgang Shivel-busch's work on vanquished nations, which, she argues, requires a post-World War II update. Hashimoto does this by examining the Japanese culture of defeat since the end of World War II through the present day, explaining how and why defeat has become an indelible part of national collective life. The culture of defeat has not subsided over time; it has endured, even intensified. This is par-tially due to an emerging culture of memory that has proliferated around the globe since the 1980s, but also because Japan-as the vanquished villain in the World War II narrative-has been trying to regenerate collective life in the after-math of the war. In addition to domestic concerns (e.g., what does it mean to be Japanese? Why did we fight an unwinnable war?), Hashimoto argues that Japan's "history problem" has relevance beyond its national borders. Not only do national disputes about how the war should be remembered persist, but Japan is constantly facing the challenges of culpability for violent acts committed against neighboring China and South Korea in the Asia-Pacific War.

The book's strength rests in Hashimoto's comparative and historical method alongside a wide range of data to support her claims about postwar Japanese culture. She deftly weaves Japanese history throughout her analysis, while also incorporating fruitful comparisons with postwar Germany. Hashimoto moves beyond traditional approaches to studying memory by focusing on more than only "official memory," which includes formal speeches, statements, and policies made by politicians and other elites. Instead, she seeks to uncover the historical and moral understanding of the war in the everyday life of Japanese people, or "popular memory." In this way, Hashimoto is examining the roots of current memory debates in Japan from "below" as well as from "above."

Toward this end, she surveys the narratives of war found in families, popular culture, and schools to learn how people have come to terms with the difficult legacy of villainy, loss, guilt, and shame after the war. The data are broken down into three categories, each afforded a chapter. First, Hashimoto examines the personal testimonies of veterans and their adult children and grandchildren to uncover how difficult memories are narrated and passed on within families. Second, she demonstrates the emergence of three narratives regarding war mem-ory-perpetrator, victim, and hero-that have emerged in recent decades by analyzing newspaper editorials published on August 15, the day Japan commem-orates the end of World War II. That these competing narratives are able to coex-ist is a powerful illustration of the complex nature of memory. For example, a Japanese soldier may simultaneously be remembered as a perpetrator of war crimes, a victim of army maltreatment or "senseless orders," and a hero unwilling to kill a POW as ordered. Third, she conducts a discourse analysis of history and civics textbooks used in Japanese schools as well as popular comic books used for studying history. Hashimoto finds that schoolchildren are encouraged to develop negative moral sentiments associated with the war, which encourages pacifism-to "Just Say No" to war. This, she argues, also limits both their understanding of the complexity of the issues at hand and the linguistic tools they have to discuss them.

Hashimoto contends that in defeated societies like Japan, public discourse sur-rounding war is divided. She explains the modern tension between the need, on the one hand, to create meaning and a progressive narrative out of defeat and, on the other, for apology, regret, atonement, and reconciliation. Since the 1990s, Hashimoto argues, public discourse has been preoccupied with finding clarity about what happened in the war, gaining a deeper awareness and understanding of Japan's perpetrator role, and attempting to rehabilitate Japanese identity.

Hashimoto concludes that Japan has three options for moral recovery, or becom-ing a "normal nation": nationalism, pacifism, or reconciliation. The nationalist approach involves overcoming the past by building up national pride in Japanese heritage. The goal here is to remove the stigma of Japan's villainy and gain inter-national respect for overcoming their loss. The pacifist approach promotes an antimilitary and antiwar ethos as atonement for the war, allowing for a moral recovery from Japan's wrongdoings. Finally, the reconciliationist approach advo-cates for better relations with Japan's East Asian neighbors as a means of taking responsibility and atoning for crimes committed during the Asia-Pacific War. Hashimoto argues that these three approaches "have been at odds, vying for dominance in different disputes over the past decades" (133). This book could have included more discussion of the possibility, however, that these three approaches might not exhaust all possibilities for recovery. It may be, for instance, that the best strategy for moving forward instead involves some degree of compromise and is more polyvalent, just like the war memories that the book describes.

The Long Defeat is a book that details how the memories of violent conflict shape culture. Hashimoto presents her readers with a compelling case that is theoretically sophisticated and empirically rigorous. The book should be consid-ered by anyone interested in collective memory, national identity, World War II, or Japanese history.