Previous scholarship has examined how Japanese animated films depict war and collective memory, highlighting animation’s role in mediating trauma and shaping cultural identity. Building on this, the present study investigates Hiroshima’s cultural memory through a comparative analysis of Japanese animation and French cinema, focusing on Grave of the Fireflies (1988), In This Corner of the World (2016), and Hiroshima mon amour (1959).
This research adopts an interdisciplinary framework, combining cultural memory theory, media studies, and film analysis to explore how different media and national perspectives construct collective memory and convey historical trauma. Documentary portrayals such as Atomic People (2015) and La face cachée d’Hiroshima (2017) provide contextual insights into how factual media contribute to public understandings of Hiroshima’s legacy.
Methodologically, it employs textual and visual analysis of key scenes, narrative structures, and symbolic elements, highlighting how animation and cinema emphasize emotional, historical, and social dimensions of memory differently. Findings indicate that Japanese animation foregrounds everyday life, social roles, and postwar modernization, while Hiroshima mon amour emphasizes transnational memory, interweaving personal and collective trauma and negotiating identity across cultures. Comparing these works illuminates how Hiroshima’s memory is interpreted and transmitted across national contexts and media forms, demonstrating the significance of popular culture in mediating historical consciousness, societal values, and cultural identity. This study contributes to understanding how interdisciplinary approaches reveal the negotiation of tradition, modernity, and trauma across media and cultures, offering new insights into global memory studies and transnational circulation of cultural memory.

Authors:
Wan Li Pai, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Wan-Li Pai is a French teaching assistant at National Cheng Kung University and an independent researcher in phonetics and phonology, literal analysis, as well as cultural and media studies. She is also an English and French tutor.

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