Journal Article

Resisting Erasure through Testimonials

Eltarabishy, Hagar Hisham

2025

Overview

In postcolonial discourse, people of color and those belonging to different races often find themselves fighting for their right to exist in a predominantly white world. The oral tradition, through testimonials and factual storytelling, provides a platform for the voiceless to share their side of history and avoid being forgotten. Consequently, documentary drama offers an opportunity for a first-hand experience of unveiling conflict, racism, trauma, and remembrance. This paper will trace the experiences of Japanese-Americans in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor as depicted in Chay Yew's play Question 27, Question 28 (2004). The play highlights themes such as racial discrimination, otherness, power, conflict, memory, and voice. The testimonials used in the play provide an intimate glimpse into the trauma endured by Japanese- Americans during their time in internment camps and throughout the war. By employing various techniques of documentary and testimonial drama, the playwright enables the audience to hear-and relive-authentic first-hand experiences in an artistic form. The collective testimonies aim not only to rewrite a forgotten chapter of history for those with hybrid identities unrecognized by both conflicting political sides but also to prevent such a horrific history from repeating itself. This paper, therefore, explores how these traumatic experiences are conveyed, as well as the themes and techniques employed to foster intimacy with the audience, ultimately imparting this disruptive yet necessary knowledge.

• Publisher: جامعة القاهرة - كلية الآداب
• Subject: التمييز العنصري / الخطاب المسرحي / السرد الشفهي / الهوية الوطنية