The Embers of Hiroshima: From Author to Subject in a Transnational Oral History Collaboration

Abstract

This paper examines an international oral history collaboration involving the "translation" of the American book, Atomic Fragments: A Daughter's Questions, by Mary Palevsky, into the Japanese documentary film, Memories of the Trinity Bomb, directed by Yoshihiko Muraki. The author utilized oral history and personal narrative to chronicle her inquiry into the legacy of the atomic bomb in the lives of its creators. Japanese scholar, Kayoko Yoshida, translated Palevsky's summary of Atomic Fragments into Japanese for Muraki, working with the filmmaker throughout the process. For the film, the author conducted interviews with Manhattan Project scientists and was interviewed in sites of personal and historical significance. This paper explores the methodological challenges underlying three essential features of this transnational project: the transformation of audience, from American to Japanese; the transformation of medium, from book to film; the transformation of identity,from researcher and author of a book to subject of a film.