In the first part of the lecture, Dr Lewis spent much time reviewing various modern materials which discuss the importance of double-entry book-keeping. Humble bean-counters will be encouraged that some authors place the invention of double-entry book-keeping on the same level as the discoveries of Galileo, while other scholars claim that capitalism would be impossible without it. In the end, this was an interesting discussion but tangential to what the books and records contained.

What was revealed on Friday night at SOAS were some pages from some 18th century accounting records of a Kaesong merchant. But whereas you and I might think of a merchant as someone who buys and sells goods for profit, this particular merchant who kept his books so diligently was in fact a money-lender. Lewis explained how the typical purpose of a loan would be to fund the harvesting of ginseng by a third party. Whether or not double-entry book-keeping is necessary or sufficient for capitalism ^[1], surely capitalism cannot exist without banking.

Were these records double-entry book-keeping in the sense that a modern accountant would recognise? To be honest, we didn’t see enough of them to judge. We have a more complete set of books from the late Choson dynasty, and on the basis that what we have of the 18th century records seem to be identical in structure to the 19th century, Dr Lewis argued with some plausibility that we can use the 19th century records to talk about the accounting methods of the 18th.

But even in the 19th century records, the brief extracts we saw would not be sufficient for someone to control their business. Yes, there is a rudimentary concept of double entry: Cash comes in, liabilities go up (“ipsang”). Cash goes out, assets go up (“taego” or “chaegupha”). But if these are the only concepts the system used, this is a recipe for a ballooning balance sheet and no way of recording profitability. For cash coming in can also represent assets going down (repayment of a loan) or receipt of revenue (interest income). And cash going out can also represent liabilities going down or payment of expenses.

But if these records (including parts we are missing) do represent genuine double-entry book-keeping, the Koreans beat the Japanese to it by about 100 years, because the Japanese are said not to have introduced such methods until the Meiji era. And Dr Lewis also argued that the Korean records used methods and concepts which could be distinguished from Chinese methods of the time (though some Sinologists disagree).

Tantalisingly, the 18th century records documented the inception of a loan at 1.5% interest. We didn’t see, however, the entries made when the loan and interest is repaid. And we saw a loan ledger, not the other side of the entry in the cash book. Whether capitalism had a foothold in 18th century Kaesong, it is alive and kicking in the 21st century DPRK: the shady pedlar of antique Choson dynasty accounting documents is assured of plenty of future interest from foreign economic historians.

1. It was noted that the Rothschilds did not start using double entry book-keeping until the 20th Century

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“Korean merchant double-entry accounts from Kaesŏng city (1786-1947): Do these prove the existence of capitalism in pre-modern Korea?”

As the topic nicely brings together my day job and my evening hobby, I’ll be sure to be there. As ever, 5pm in SOAS room G52. Lewis has previously published papers on pre-modern Korean economic history, one of which was presented to the one-day conference at the British Academy in December last year

Links:

• A write-up of the talk can be found here

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There are two opportunities to see him perform before he returns to Seoul. Firstly, this Wednesday, 19 November at Durham University Concert Hall at 1pm, where he will perform Salpuri chum (살풀이 - Korean shamanistic dance) and Seung mu (승무 - Korean buddhist drum dance). At 3pm he will be participating in a Korean music workshop.

Dr Yi will also be appearing at the Brunei Theatre at SOAS on 12 December at 7pm, where he will share the stage with Lee Myung-hee, the leading gayageum player, in an evening of Sapuri, Seung mu and Sanjo.

While in the UK, Dr Yi has performed on a number of occasions:

• 8 September 2008 - ‘Salpuri Chum’ The Koreas at 60 ~ Looking forward / Looking Back, BAKS conference (British Association of Korean Studies), JCR Clare College, University ff Cambridge, UK
• 16 June 2008 - ‘Salpuri Chum’ Korean Studies Publishing in Europe, Khalili Theatre, SOAS Centre of Korean Studies, London University, UK
• 8 June 2008 - ‘Yullim gut’ and ‘Jinsoi chum’ DANO Korea Summer Festiva, KCPA, Trafalgar Square, London, UK
• 24 May 2008 - ‘Salpuri Chum’ 5th Workshop on Formal Altaic Linguistics (WAFL), Brunei Galley Suite, SOAS, London UK

Photo credits: Korean Cultural Promotion Agency, taken at Dr Yi’s performance at the 2008 DANO festival in Trafalgar Square.

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Chatham House Korea Discussion Group
Friday 14 November, 12.30-14.00
Lunch: 12.00 (£10 charge)

Korea: Update on the Security and Economic Situation
SPEAKER: Ambassador Chun Yung-woo, Embassy of the Republic of Korea
CHAIR: DR Jim Hoare, Chargé d’Affaires, British Embassy in Pyongyang, DPRK (2001-2003)

Ambassador Chun has had a long and distinguished career in the Republic of Korea’s foreign ministry, most recently as his government’s representative to the critical Six Party Talks dealing with the North Korean nuclear crisis. His talk is likely to prove wide-ranging, covering contemporary developments both in the economic and security field. The ambassador has generously agreed to participate in a comprehensive question and answer session with the participants at the seminar. The meeting, therefore, is a rare opportunity to hear the views of a senior and influential South Korean government official.

The talk and the question and answer session will be held under the Chatham House Rule.

To register for this event please reply to asia [at] chathamhouse [dot] org [dot] uk

Secondly, the SOAS early evening seminar:

Choon Key Chekar, CESAGEN, Cardiff University
A very Korean scandal?: inconsistency in cultural explanations for ‘ova donation campaign’

Description of Talk:
‘The topic I particularly want to address in this seminar is based on a research project I am taking part in at Cesagen (The ESRC Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics): “Comparative Analyses of ‘Public Discourse’ and ‘Discourses about the Public’ in Relation to Stem Cell Research”.

South Korean clone expert Hwang Woo Suk made headlines worldwide when his Seoul National University team claimed to make two breakthroughs in their embryonic stem cell research in 2004 and 2005. Then again he made headlines firstly because of his unethical egg procurement and then fabrication of his data. Both Korean and non-Korean media have attempted to explain both the outstanding scientific achievement and fraudulent failure as something to do with Korean culture and traditions. While analysing media representation of the breakthrough and scandal in South Korean national newspapers, however, I found cultural explanations were mobilised by the media in an unproblematic way. By comparing cultural explanations in media representation of ova donations and alleged issues (including reproductive rights) in Korean and non-Korean media, this talk will discuss how the cultural explanation can obscure as much as it reveals.’

The seminar will take place in room G52 of the main SOAS building and is open to the public.

Please see http://www.soas.ac.uk/koreanstudies/events/seminars/index.php for updates.

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Live Music Versus Audio Tourism: world music and the changing music industry

Inaugural Lecture by Professor Keith Howard (SOAS)

11 November 2008, 5.30pm,Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS

Chair: Professor Jonathan Stock, University of Sheffield

Professor Paul Webley, Director and Principal of SOAS, will preside.

In his inaugural lecture Professor Keith Howard will discuss the implications of the oral qualities of musical communication. The academic discipline of ethnomusicology gives central importance to fieldwork, to documentation and - increasingly - to learning from expert teachers how to perform. Ethnomusicologists promote, through rarely profitable recordings, books and concerts, their take on the social and cultural distinctiveness of specific world musics. Joining them, UNESCO, in its Intangible Cultural Convention and ‘Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Mankind’, and along with member states from Korea to Japan and Yakutia to Uzbekistan, now seeks both to preserve ‘traditional’ musics and to promote them. Music is now marketed along with World Heritage Sites for domestic and international tourism. Music has become an icon of identity.

In contrast, the established music industry, entangled with issues of politics and control, promotes World Music. Critics argue that World Music promotes a new aesthetic form of the global imagination by packaging products in a homogeneous, flashy, but shallow way in order to generate profits. Audiences listen, in their own homes, in concert halls or at festivals, posing as audio tourists who no longer need to travel.

Worldwide, musicians make choices as they move between local and global systems, as they travel the world to perform, reinforcing soundworlds from the local or capitulating to the global. What, then, are the potential futures for World Music and the academic discipline of ethnomusicology?

All Welcome (no booking required)

Further details: http://www.soas.ac.uk/events/event42288

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Friday, October 17
Prof. Rüdiger Frank, University of Vienna
“Transformation of State Socialism in East Asia: The case of North Korea”

Friday October 31
Dr Catherine H Yoon, University of East London
“Older People in Advertising: UK/South Korean Comparison”

Friday November 14th
Dr. Choon Key Chekar, CESAGEN, Cardiff University
“A very Korean scandal?: Inconsistency in cultural explanations for ‘ova donation campaign’”

Friday, November 28th
Dr. James Lewis, University of Oxford
“Korean merchant double-entry accounts from Kaesŏng city (1786-1947): Do these prove the existence of capitalism in pre-modern Korea?”

Friday, 5 December 2008
Professor Kim Shin Dong, Sciences Po, Paris
“Contemporary Korean popular culture”

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Full details here.

A bit beyond me I’m afraid. I’m still struggling with my counting words.

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The event was partly to celebrate the launch of the Selected Writings of Han Yongun (above right), which was done in style, with plenteous wine and nibbles plus a traditional dance from Lee Chul Jin, who performed in Trafalgar Square the week before. He will be based at SOAS for the next six months.

The launch and conference was a who’s who of Korean studies, a great way of networking and hearing the gossip. Jane Portal, for example, was present, and people were speculating as to who was going to take on her Korean responsibilities at the British Museum now she’s off to Boston.

My day job got in the way of attending the full conference, but I managed to hear most of Vladimir Tikhonov discussing the merits and demerits of available Korean history textbooks available in English. None were thought to be totally ideal, with the standard work, Korea Old and New, lacking a little in regional perspective, while other more recent works in English did not take into account the latest historical research available in Korean. Tikhonov suggested that a new text book was needed, reflecting all the latest research, maybe written by a number of different scholars. But in discussion afterwards there weren’t any volunteers to write a chapter.

A similar problem was identified by Charlotte Horlyck, who reviewed the available literature on Korean art history in English – a rather short list compared with the wealth of information and different viewpoints available in English on Chinese and Japanese art. This means that any Westerner who is serious about studying Korean art history has to learn Korean: if restricted solely to western texts a student could potentially find the subject “boring” because more or less the same artefacts are discussed in more or less the same way in many of the texts.

Some of the texts available were catalogues linked to exhibitions of Korean art in the West. Dr Horlyck gave a useful summary of recent opportunities to view Korean artefacts: earlier exhibitions gave a broad overview of the Korean art world:

• A touring show in the US in 1979-1981: 5,000 Years of Korean Art.
• In 1984 came Treasures from Korea: Art through 5000 years at the British Museum
• In 1998 the Met published Arts of Korea to coincide with the opening of their permanent Korean gallery
• Korea - die alten Koenigreiche showed in Munich and Zurich in 1999.

More specialist exhibitions followed in 2003:

• The (New York) Japan Society’s Transmitting the Forms of Divinity: Early Buddhist Art from Korea and Japan, and
• Goryeo Dynasty: Korea’s age of enlightenment at the Museum of Asian Art in San Francisco.

All these exhibitions produced catalogues - most of them now only available on the second hand market, though the Met’s magisterial Arts of Korea is readily available. The British Museum and the V&A have also published books to accompany their permanent collections - respectively Jane Portal’s Korea: Art and Archaeology and Beth McKillop’s Korean Art and Design. Portal’s book has unexpectedly ended up as a text book in one US school: she gets the occasional complaint that the book wasn’t written with one chapter for each week of a term.

After the slightly gloomy picture painted in the lecture theatre, it was good to see the books available in the foyer. Saffron’s translation of Lee Dongju’s The Beauty of Old Korean Paintings and Francis Mullany’s Symbolism in Korean Ink Brush Painting from Global Oriental didn’t stay on the display table for long.

Here are some of the titles that were on display:

Links

• Saffron Korea Library
• Global Oriental
• Brill

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The event will take place at SOAS in the Khalili Lecture theatre at 1pm. It coincides with the publication of the “Selected Writings of Han Yong-un” by Global Oriental, stalwarts of Korean Studies publishing, a representative of whom will be speaking at the conference. Also represented will be Saffron Books - a niche publisher with a Korean specialism - and Brill, who publish the Korea Yearbook among other things. There’s a review of one of Saffron’s publications coming very soon on LKL, just as soon as I can check a fact.

Click on the below for a full-size version of the flyer

Details of the Han Yong-un book from the Global Oriental website:

This volume concentrates on translations of Han Yongun’s principal non-literary works, which are published here in English for the first time, focusing on his ideas for the revitalization of Korean Buddhism in the modern world, the nature of Buddhism as a religion, a critique of atheist movements fashionable among the communists of his time, together with his memoirs of his early life and travels.

One of Korea’s most eminent Buddhists and political activists in the independence movement during the long years of Japan’s colonization of his country, Han Yongun – sobriquet ‘Manhae’ (1879-1944), was a prolific writer and outstanding poet, known especially for his poetry collection Nim ui ch’immuk (‘The Silence of the Lover’).

Selected Writings of Han Yongun, published in collaboration with The Academy of Korean Studies, also contains supportive introductory essays on Manhae’s life, his relationship with socialist ideas as well as the significance of some of the ideas discussed in the translated writings.

Students and researchers in Korean Studies, Studies in Buddhism, in particular Zen Buddhism, and Comparative Religions will find this collection an invaluable source of reference.

Full details of the conference programme are as follows:

1.00pm Opening remarks (Anders Karlsson)

1.10pm Session 1: Scholarship and translation across borders (Chair: Grace Koh)

• Keith Howard: ‘Korean and Western Scholarship: Divergence or Convergence’
• Anders Karlsson: ‘Publishing Korean literature in Swedish’

2.40pm Tea and coffee

3.00pm Session 2: Publishers’ roundtable (Chair: Jim Hoare)

• With short presentations from Sajid Rizvi (Saffron Books), Albert Hofstadt (Brill) and Paul Norbury (Global Oriental)

4.00pm Tea and coffee

4.20pm Session 3: Providing materials on Korea for university students (Chair: Jaehoon Yeon / Owen Miller)

• Vladimir Tikhonov: ‘Our own textbook problem: Korean history textbooks in English’
• Charlotte Horlyck: ‘Publishing on Korean art history’

6.00pm Finish

6.30-8.00pm Book Launch for Selected Writings of Han Yongun (in Khalili Lecture Theatre foyer). The book launch will include a talk by the translator Prof. Tikhonov, a Korean dance performance and a wine reception.

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Two years ago I went along to the Samulnori summer school run by the excellent Dulsori and had a ball. Last year, LKL woman of the year 2006 Rowan Pease went along with her daughter and had a whale of a time. This year it’s your turn.

Korean Samulnori Percussion
Dulsori Ensemble
Date: 7 July 2008, Time: 6:00 PM
Finishes: 11 July 2008, Time: 8:00 PM

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Type of Event: Summer School

Series: Summer Music School Timetable

Course Dates: 07-11 July, Mon-Fri 6-8pm
Course Fee: £75 (concs £55)

Samulnori is the contemporary form of a rural percussion tradition stretching back into antiquity. Today, Samulnori is the most popular style in the Korean traditional music scene, equally at home in the countryside or on urban stages. The rhythms are said to create balance in the cosmos, combining yin and yang.

Instruments will be provided. With members of the Dulsori Ensemble.

Contact email: musicevents@soas.ac.uk
Contact Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4500
Contact Fax: +44 (0)20 7898 4519
Organised by: Department of Music

Here’s Dulsori in action, captured by Samuel Cho at last year’s Chuseok festivities at the British Museum:

Links

• Full details of the course on SOAS website
• Dulsori website
• Articles on LKL featuring Dulsori, including a blow-by-blow account of the 2006 classes

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Note - this bursary is not to be confused with the £500 post-graduate bursary offered by the other AKS, the Anglo-Korean Society.

Links

• Details of bursary on SOAS website

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The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London is pleased to announce a new scholarship for Korean Studies. The Sochon Foundation Scholarship is open to students wishing to study for a Korea-related degree at postgraduate level, commencing in the coming academic year (2008-9). For more details please see this web page.

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First, Tuesday, 29th January, 2008 at 5pm in the Common Room, Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge.

The University of Cambridge Department of East Asian Studies presents an East Asia Institute seminar:

Paradise Lost: From Chollima Speed to Slow Motion Famine How North Korea Got Where it is Today

To be given by:

Mr Paul French
Access Asia, Shanghai

From one of the worlds 20 largest economies in 1975 to an estimated two million dead from famine twenty years later and then to the worlds most isolated and little understood nuclear power. How did North Korea manage to so spectacularly mismanage its economy, manage its people, seal its borders and get the bomb? Paul French, the author of North Korea: Paranoid Peninsula A Modern History (Zed Books, London, 2005) details the rise, fall and dynamics of North Koreas economy, society and political leadership and the likelihood of future change.

Since the breakthrough agreement between North Korea and the USA in February 2007 it appears that the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula has some forward motion at last. However, while the nuclear threat is being tackled North Korea itself remains in a state of advanced economic collapse, food shortages and political ossification. The talk will include a round up of the current state of North Koreas economy, the possibilities of economic liberalisation and the current views from Washington, Pyongyang and Beijing on the DPRK.

Paul French is a founder and the Chief China Representative of Access Asia based in Shanghai. Founded ten years ago, Access Asia specializes in providing information on Chinas economy and consumer/retail markets. He is also a contributor to the China Economic Quarterly and the China Editor of Ethical Corporation Magazine. French is also a member of the board of international advisors for the North Korea Investibility Index (NKII). He studied Chinese and Asian studies at the University of London and socialist theories and movements at the University of Glasgow.

French was the co-author of the 1998 book One Billion Shoppers: Accessing Asias Consuming Passions and also the author of North Korea The Paranoid Peninsula (2005) and A Tough Old China Hand The Life, Times and Adventures of an American in Shanghai (2006) a biography of the legendary Shanghai based journalist and ad man from the 1930s. His next book Fat China: How Expanding Waistlines Will Change a Nation will be published in 2008.

The talk will be re-run at SOAS on Friday evening, 1 Feb, at 5pm as part of the Spring term evening seminar series.

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Fridays, 5pm
Room G52, Ground Floor, Main Building
SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
(except where otherwise stated)

For further details contact: Rahima Begum (rb41 AT soas DOT ac DOT uk)

All Welcome

These Seminars are open to the public. No booking is required.

Friday 18 January,
5pm, G52
Staffan Rosen, Stockholm University
Merit and Reward - The Imperial Korean System of Decorations 1900-1910 in an International Perspective

Friday 25 January,
5pm, G52
Valerie Gelezeau, EHESS
Landscapes of power in Seoul - Apartment complexes and the modernization of the South Korean city

Thursday 31 January,
5pm, G52
Carl Saxer, Associate Professor, Asia Research Centre, Copenhagen Business School
The Return of the Regions or the Rise of Seoul? Observations on the Recent Presidential Election in South Korea

Friday 1 February
5pm, G52
Paul French, Access Asia and author of North Korea: the Paranoid Peninsula
Paradise Lost: From Chollima Speed to Slow Motion Famine How North Korea Got Where it is Today

Friday 8 February
5pm, G52
Gina Barnes, Professorial Research Associate, SOAS
Cross-straits relations between Korea and Japan in the mid-4th to 5th centuries

Friday 22 February,
5pm, G52
Vladimir Tikhonov, Institute of East European and Oriental Studies, Oslo University
To beat or not to beat: discussions on Bildung ideals, corporal punishment and military training in colonial Korea

Friday 7 March,
5pm, G52
Kevin Gray, Sussex University
Democracy, Neoliberalism and the Crisis of the Korean Labour Movement

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Study Korean and Japanese Art at SOAS — April — July 2008

The former British Museum postgraduate diploma course in Asian Art will now be offered at SOAS from 2008. Korea and Japan are seen in their Asian context,particularly in their relationship with each other and, above all, with China (right). The programme is object based, with the special study of objects, prints and paintings from the collections of the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum while lectures are given by leading experts.

The Korea and Japan module will run for 12 weeks from April 2008, covering the artistic heritage of Korea and Japan from the prehistoric periods to the present day. While the major part of the course is dedicated to Japan, the first weeks of the module focus on Korea.

Korea’s artistic heritage will include tomb artefacts, buddhist sculpture and paintings, crafts and ceramics. The Japanese part of the module begins with prehistoric and early historic periods when links between these two countries were strong. The course moves from the 7th to the 15th centuries, with the study of masterpieces in sculpture and painting. The later part of the course focuses, not only on paintings and popular prints, but also a wide variety of decorative arts and crafts, with an emphasis on techniques and aesthetics.

Various thematic topics will be followed, such as architecture and gardens, the arts of the tea ceremony, and East-West cross-cultural influences, particularly in export ceramics. Artistic expression will be viewed against the relevant social and political background as well as the religious and literary movements of each period. Visits to museum collections will provide an opportunity for object study to complement a course which combines academic discipline and practical skills. Students are not required to have any knowledge of the arts of Asia, but should have a serious interest in the study of the area.

Students successfully completing any three 12 week modules, selected from the Arts of China (January); the Arts of Japan & Korea (April), the Arts of the Islamic world (April) or the Arts of India (September), will be awarded a university accredited Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art.

Further Details from: Dr Heather Elgood: he2 [AT] soas [DOT] ac [DOT] uk.

Links:

• Course home page at SOAS website
• Prospectus
• Application form

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Wednesday’s talk on the Japanese manga Kenkanryu was packed to overflowing — a strong contrast with the generally much sparser attendance at the Centre for Korean Studies seminars. Whether that’s a reflection of the greater number of people enrolled in Japanese Studies courses, or the popular culture subject matter I don’t know.

In these few paragraphs I can’t do justice to the richness of Nicola Liscutin’s analysis — and with all the Japanese names flying around I was getting a little confused. It would be fascinating to get hold of an English translation of the books, but I can’t imagine that many people apart from me would buy one.

For those unfamiliar with the manga, it presents a strongly conservative Japanese view of Korea-Japan relations, emphasising Japan’s purity of motive and benevolence in practice. Such issues as forced deportations are dismissed as myths, while Korea is accused of trying to steal Japanese culture.

Liscutin talked both about the manga itself and the internet discussion which has grown out of it. Highlighting the fact that the first volume came out in 2005, in Korea-Japan Friendship Year, she placed the series in the context of the wider manga genre, showing how manga artistic conventions had been exploited to enhance the message; the series, because of certain design conventions used, had positioned itself as an educational manga, thus aiming to enhance the authority of its contents. The educational content is enhanced further by the cartoon story line being broken up by the occasional article by various well-known figures. Liscutin commented how many readers regarded the manga as revealing new truths to them ^[1], truths concealed by the liberal educational establishment (portrayed in the kenkanryu world — whether in the manga or blogosphere — as part of a left-leaning, unpatriotic, trade union- / communist- / North Korean- sympathising, zainichi nexus).

The talk flowed freely between the manga itself and the dialogue on the internet. Thus the Matt over at Occidentalism.org featured prominently as the premier English language kenkanryu site. Depending on your point of view, Occidentalism.org represents a healthy scepticism about some of Korea’s historical claims, or represents the unacceptable face of the Japanese neo-nationalist right. Whatever your point of view, the comment threads are always lively. An example was quoted in the talk: attacking the credibility of the New York Times article on the basis of the background of its author ^[2], one commenter noted:

It is well documented that Norimitsu Onishi is in fact a 2nd generation Korean-Japanese who is a writer for the NY Times and has a penchant for praising all things Korean and speaking ill of all things Japanese. He was famous in Japan for his outward support of the Communist party as well as his time spent in school in Korea. His father was a pachinko parlor owner in Kyushu. His works have been published in Japan as well too catering all to Koreans.

Other brief notes:

• Many of the main Japanese characters have the traditional manga doe-eyed look (almost Western-looking), while the Koreans are far more oriental looking (I’m reminded of the portrayal of Japanese solders in the UK “Commando” magazines).
• In the debates between the Koreans and Japanese it’s the Japanese who speak first, delivering their version of historical truths with oracular authority (emphasised by the halos which the artist draws around the Japanese characters). The Korean characters are given fewer frames to refute the Japanese exposition, and more often than not are portrayed as being reduced to despair, rage or incoherence by the irrefutable truth of the Japanese views ^[3].
• The manga uses unsourced photographs as evidence of the truth of the Japanese viewpoint. Conversely, if the Koreans can’t produce photos, then their view is clearly false.
• The presentation is very binary — us / them, white / black. There is no room for an in-between position.
• There are two zainichi Koreans in the manga, one of whom is naturalised Japanese and provides the Japanese students with Korean insights, while the other, unnaturalised one is used as fuel for the debate. He’s portrayed has hot-tempered, linguistically ignorant and constantly complaining about discrimination. He’s dismissed as neither one thing nor the other by the native Korean students and the only way open to him is to become a naturalised Japanese.

A lively discussion was held afterwards, which kenkanryu devotees would no doubt dismiss as not worthy of reporting as the participants were a bunch of notorious establishment academics and students who go to seminars rather than getting their historical understanding from the internet.

Links:

• Kenkanryu in Wikipedia
• Neighbour fails to see the funny side, (London) Times, 1 November 2005
• Ugly images of Asian Rivals become best sellers in Japan, New York Times, 19 November 2005
• “Hating ‘The Korean Wave”’ Comic Books: A sign of New Nationalism in Japan?, Japan Focus, October (?) 2007
• Occidentalism posts:
  • Initial post: Hate the Korean Wave (5 September 2005)
  • Kenkanryu in the New York Times (21 November 2005)
  • A final word on Kenkanryu (6 December 2005)
  • Post (and inevitable discussion thread) linking to Japan Focus article (5 October 2007)
  • And a further follow-up post here (6 October 2007)
• Kenkanryu in the realm of revisionists, Popular Gusts, 5 April 2006
• Marmot’s hole posts on 3 August 2005 and 21 November 2005
• OICD article (22 October 2006)

1. She noted how one of her own students, studying the portrayal of hallyu stars in Japanese women’s magazines, had been completely won over by the “truths” portrayed in the manga — despite her academic discipline
2. The dismissal of an article based on the author’s background also rears its head in Occidentalism’s attack on the Japanfocus paper: the Japanese half of the team is noted to have written an article on comfort women — the implication being that she is therefore part of the traitorous liberal nexus noted above and therefore not worth listening to
3. There are those who might say that’s a true reflection of the strength of Korea’s position. Indeed, there are many Western Koreaphiles who are often bemused by the irrational over-excitability of Koreans on certain topics

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Wednesday 28 November, 5pm, SOAS main buildings G51
“Surfing the neo-nationalist wave: a case study of the manga Kenkanryu”
Dr Nicola Liscutin (Birkbeck College)

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Note the difference in venue for the 5 December talk.

Friday 2 November, 5pm, room G52
Akira Utsugi, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Edinburgh
“Tone and intonation in Seoul and Gyeongsang Korean”

Friday 16 November, 5pm, room G52
Janet Poole, Visiting Scholar, Centre of Korean Studies, SOAS
“Unruly Detail: Writing, Photography and Crisis in Late Colonial Korea”

Friday 23 November, 5pm, room G52
Joerg Plassen, Assistant Professor of Korean Studies, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
“Literati Sŏn and Buddhist Neo-Confucianism: Hybrid tendencies in the intellectual life of the Early Chosŏn period, focusing on Kim Sisûp alias Sôlcham”

Friday 30 November, 5pm, room G52
Andrew Logie, digital cinematographer and researcher
“Contemporary Tradition: a showing of pansori and instrumental performances filmed in Korea this year”
Carl Saxer, Associate Professor, Asia Research Centre, Copenhagen Business School
“Globalization and Inequality in South Korea (with additional reference to the consequences of globalization for Korean Studies)” NB Carl Saxer’s seminar replaced with Andrew Logie’s talk.

Wednesday 5 December, 5pm, room VG06 in the Vernon Square campus [map]
Leonid Petrov, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University
“North Korea: a Regional Troublemaker or a Land of Opportunities?” (with observations from his recent visit to the DPRK)

All are welcome and no pre-booking is required.

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ASIA CONTEMPORARY
5th — 9th November 2007

Course includes:

• Lectures and seminars by leading experts and working artists
• Visits to galleries and auction houses

Course Objectives:

• To give an in-depth knowledge of contemporary Asian art, focusing on Indian, Pakistan, the Middle East, China, Japan and Korea.
• To encourage students to relate to contemporary Asian art from both an academic and business viewpoint.
• To allow students a unique opportunity to examine works of art from the British museums collections, currently not on show.
• To offer students lectures by world renowned academics on their specialist subjects.

Provisional running order is as follows:

MONDAY 5th November

09.30 REGISTRATION & WELCOME
10.00 INDIAN CONTEMPORARY 1 (Savita Apte)
11.30 INDIAN CONTEMPORARY 2 (Savita Apte)
14.00 MY WORK by Indian contemporary artist (Dilip Sur)
16.00 INDIAN CONTEMPORARY handling collection V&A (Divya Patel)

TUESDAY 6th November

10.00 PAKISTAN CONTEMPORARY (Savita Apte)
11.30 MIDDLE EASTERN CONTEMPORARY ART (Camilla Canellas)
14.00 MY WORK by Middle Eastern contemporary artist (Mustafa Ja’far)
15.30 CHINESE ART MARKET (Iain Robertson)

WEDNESDAY 7th November

10.00 HISTORY OF THE SUBJECT OF CHINESE CONTEMPORARY PAINTING (Michael Sullivan)
11.30 CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS IN CHINA (Elaine Buck)
14.00 MY WORK by contemporary Chinese artist (Weimin He)

THURSDAY 8th November

10.00 CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE ART (Suzanne Perrin)
11.30 MY WORK by contemporary Japanese artist (Yukki Yaura)
14.00 CONTEMPORARY KOREAN ART (Jiyoon Lee)
FRIDAY 9th November

10.00 ISLAMIC ART MARKET (Dalya Islam)
11.00 PANEL DISCUSSION (Mustafa Ja’far, Dilip Sur, Jiyoon Lee, Hana Malallah, Laila Shawa, Savita Apte)
14.00 CONTEMPORARY SOUTH ASIAN ART GALLERY (Aicon Gallery) (Savita Apte)
15.30 CONTEMPORARY ASIAN ART GALLERY (Rossi & Rossi)
17.00 CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART GALLERY (Olyvia Oriental)

Class Dinner

The course is led by Dr Heather Elgood from the British Museum’s education department. The other lecturers are as follows:

• Elaine Buck has a PhD from the University of London in Chinese art and archaeology. She teaches Chinese art history from the University of Reading, is tutor for the China module on the British Museum Asian Art Diploma course and is a freelance lecturer.
• Mustafa Ja’far is a graphic designer who specialises in Arabic calligraphy. He conducts workshops on Arabic calligraphy across the country, including in the British Museum, the British Library and Birkbeck College.
• Mary Ginsberg is the acting assistant keeper, Department of Asia, British Museum.
• Savita Apte is a freelance lecturer and is currently doing a PhD at SOAS.
• Suzanne Perrin studied Japanese traditional art at Nagoya University of Art. She is currently a visiting lecturer at University of Cape Town, South Africa and Brighton University of Art and Design.
• Dilip Sur is well known contemporary Indian artist and has work in private and public collections around the world. Dilip Sur teaches at the Royal College of Art, London as well as taking part in many solo and group exhibitions.
• Iain Robertson has a PhD on the emerging art markets of Greater China at City University, London. In addition to over eighty articles for the arts press, a book, ‘Understanding international art markets’, appeared in early 2005. Currently is part of the faculty of the Sotheby’s Institute of Art.
• Jiyoon Lee is an independent curator and art critic who curated, organised and fundraised for contemporary art exhibitions in numerous venues in Europe and Far East Asia. She has also worked as lecturer for Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul Korea for the past years. She is also an active correspondent and writer, having published more than 50 articles and papers in art journals

The cost of this 5 day course is £500.
Please contact Dr Heather Elgood for further details
Email: he2[AT]soas[DOT]ac[DOT]uk
Tel: 02078984445

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Centre of Korean Studies Seminar
18th of September 2007.
Venue: SOAS Room B111
Time: 5pm - 7pm

Han Seunghoon (Korea University)

The Beginning of the Unequal Treaty System in Late-Nineteenth century Choson

As usual, the event is free and no pre-booking is required

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