“Fusa Tsumagari, a Japanese American Woman, and Her Intersectional Use of Conversational and Contrastive Rhetorical Styles”

by Skyler Drew | Xchanges 13.2, Fall 2018

Archival Methodology

The archival sources used to examine Tsumagari’s unique style of rhetoric were five letters written by this woman as she lived in different Japanese internment camps in the United States during the 1940s. Tsumagari wrote over 30 letters to Clara Breed, her local librarian, while living in several different internment camps between 1942 and 1945. The first letter analyzed was written in May 22, 1942, and was sent from Arcadia, California. The second letter was written on September 27, 1943, and was sent from Poston, Arizona. The third letter was written on December 28, 1943, and was also sent from Poston, Arizona. The fourth letter was written on July 17, 1944, and was sent from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The fifth and final letter was written on January 14, 1945, and was also sent from Minneapolis, Minnesota. All of these letters were retrieved from the Clara Breed Collection on the Japanese American National Museum’s webpage entitled Museum Collection Online.

These five letters were chosen over the remaining 25 given their content, length, and significance to the argument of this paper. Each one demonstrated Tsumagari’s intersectional rhetorical style through the cultural and feminine parts of her identity and were more relevant to the context of this paper. These letters are valuable, as they provide insight into how women lived within these internment camps. The Japanese internment camps are an important part of U.S. history, and although Tsumagari reveals details about the camps, and her letters are interesting artifacts from a historical standpoint, these letters contain information beyond the historical context and allow for analysis of her rhetorical style and choices. Tsumagari’s rhetoric is intersectional given the feminine and cultural aspects of her identity that come together to create a cohesive writing style. This style combines cultural rhetorical norms and feminine rhetorical norms to create an intersectional rhetorical style deeply rooted in Tsumagari’s identity.