TW: sexual violence, assault, military conflict
It was not an easy read, yet it is such an important book.
I am writing this review as a student and undoubtedly the perspectives I am able to provide you with are limited. Though despite this shortcoming I wholly regret, I cannot imagine myself not writing about it at all.
I first came across the topic of sexual violence in conflict during a lecture on the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937 – 45) where the Rape of Nanking was briefly mentioned. The Rape of Nanking (or Nanjing) was also known as the Nanjing Massacre, though I used to wonder at the time why “rape” and “massacre” were used almost synonymously. The incident involved the random murder, wartime rape, and looting committed by the Imperial Japanese Army against Nanjing residents after the Battle of Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Rape as a weapon to me at the time was a concept I struggled to understand (though I assure you that I will try to thoroughly explain and explore the concept in the upcoming parts as best I could).
Chinese American author and journalist Iris Chang (1968 – 2004) was the pioneer in chronicling and documenting the Nanjing Massacre in her book ‘The Rape of Nanking: Forgotten Holocaust of World War II’. Chang grew up listening to her grandparents’ stories on their narrow escape from the Massacre, however she was unable to find books on the Massacre at her local library (the Champaign Public Library) at the time. Chang then researched and interviewed survivors herself, the book was published in 1997.
Much like Chang, Lamb gives voice to those history had failed to remember. Voice, I believe, is perhaps a tool most powerful because history is oral as much as it is written.
As an egyptology enthusiast, allow me to elaborate on this idea in the style I know best. The ancient Egyptian deity Ptah, creator god, is said to create through words. In the Egyptian document “Memphite Theology”, humans are created through the power of heart and speech, we are shaped by the heart and brought into being through utterance. Storytelling gives rise to the existence of its subjects.
My question is who chooses the orator? The perpetrators, the victims and survivors, or the state?
For Lamb, she ensures that the victim and survivors are the central orators of their stories.
‘Our Bodies Their Battlefield’ is a virtually insurmountable work in many ways. Lamb interviewed victims and survivors of wartime rape with the assistance of trauma psychologists and translators, documented historical instances of rape as depicted in art and literature long before the legal term was coined, and lingered hope in her writings as she discussed means for victims and survivors to regain the dignity and ownership of their stories.
I think it is best to divide the review into parts; sexual violence in conflict: portrayal in English and classical literature and art, sexual violence in conflict: rape as weapon and the legal history and milestones of its recognition, and survivors of sexual violence in conflict and the Panzi Model.
I hope that my upcoming writings will be able to provide whatever marginal contribution to the conversation and discussion on sexual violence in conflict and the book itself. And most importantly, I hope you follow along with me as we together remember what it means to be human: what destroys us, what to do when we are violated, and what can be done to prevent others from the horror and atrocities we have faced.
The Studio Solara 