From the publisher’s website: In earlier times, for the Chinese, Korea was ‘the country of courteous people from the east’, and for westerners ‘the land of the morning calm’ or ‘hermit kingdom’. In this fascinating collection of writings on times past in Korea the author helps to lift the veil on this once closed country, … [Read More]
Archives: Books (page 85)
Korea through Western Eyes
From the back cover: Western Perceptions and Modernization 1882 – 1905 The authors bring the characters involved in this important period of Korean history to life and place them both within their contemporary context as well as their broader long-term setting. There are stories of bravery and dedication, but also of greed and selfishness and … [Read More]
Korean Workers: The Culture and Politics of Class Formation
From the publisher’s website: Forty years of rapid industrialization have transformed millions of South Korean peasants and their sons and daughters into urban factory workers. Hagen Koo explores the experiences of this first generation of industrial workers and describes its struggles to improve working conditions in the factory and to search for justice in society. … [Read More]
Literature from the “Axis of Evil”
From the publisher’s website: “The governments might be considered quote unquote the enemy, but definitely not the people. These stories and poems offer an alternate view, which is very different from the politicized and polarized view of these nations.” —Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran Subject of a full-length segment on Morning Edition … [Read More]
Transgression in Korea: Beyond Resistance and Control
From the publisher’s website: Since the turn of the millennium South Korea has continued to grapple with transgressions that shook the nation to its core. Following the serial killings of Korea’s raincoat killer, the events that led to the dissolution of the United Progressive Party, the criminal negligence of the owner and also the crew members … [Read More]
Zainichi Literature
From the publisher’s website: This collection of translated works highlights a selection of writings in translation by Zainichi (diasporic Koreans in Japan). The introduction provides an historical overview of Zainichi diasporic identity; the concluding appendix considers the figure of Kin Kakuei and the flourishing Zainichi literature in the 1960s. Authors whose works are translated and … [Read More]
Rationalizing Korea: The Rise of the Modern State, 1894–1945
The first book to explore the institutional, ideological, and conceptual development of the modern state on the peninsula, Rationalizing Korea analyzes the state’s relationship to five social sectors, each through a distinctive interpretive theme: economy (developmentalism), religion (secularization), education (public schooling), population (registration), and public health (disease control). Kyung Moon Hwang argues that while this formative process … [Read More]
Korea and the Western Drumset: Scattering Rhythms
From the publisher’s website: For over a century, drummers have been turning to a variety of percussive traditions as prompts for the creation of new expressive possibilities on the drumset. In this book, Simon Barker sets out in detail the developmental processes he has followed creating an improvisational language for the drumset utilizing Korean rhythm/sticking … [Read More]
Korean Musical Drama: P’ansori and the Making of Tradition in Modernity
From the publisher’s website: P’ansori is the quintessential traditional Korean musical drama, in which epic tales are sung and narrated by a solo singer accompanied by a drummer. Drawing on her extensive research in Korea and its diasporas, Haekyung Um describes and analyses the creative processes of p’ansori, weaving into her discussion musical, social and … [Read More]
Korean Buncheong Ceramics from Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art
From the publisher’s website: Sensuous, whimsical, sophisticated, rustic, and masterful, buncheong ceramics emerged in Korea at the end of the fourteenth century. This breathtakingly diverse expression grew out of inlaid celadon, the celebrated aristocratic stoneware synonymous with the Goryeo period (1918–1392). During the nearly two centuries of its production, buncheong would be increasingly taken up … [Read More]
Arts of Korea: the Metropolitan Museum of Art
From the publisher’s website: Of all the cultural and artistic traditions of East Asia, those of Korea have received the least attention in the West. This volume, along with the major exhibition it accompanies, examines the most significant developments in the history of Korean art, from the Neolithic period to the nineteenth century, through outstanding … [Read More]
The Emotions of Justice: Gender, Status, and Legal Performance in Choson Korea
The Choson state (1392–1910) is typically portrayed as a rigid society because of its hereditary status system, slavery, and Confucian gender norms. However, The Emotions of Justice reveals a surprisingly complex picture of a judicial system that operated in a contradictory fashion by discriminating against subjects while simultaneously minimizing such discrimination. Jisoo Kim contends that … [Read More]
Korea’s Pastimes and Customs: A Social History
From the publisher’s website: Why are there so many Gims (Kims), Yis (Lees) and Baks (Parks) in Korea? What was life like in Korea hundreds of years ago? What kinds of communities did the Korean people form? How did they celebrate their birthdays and holidays? What kinds of games did they play in their spare … [Read More]
Juche – How to Live Well the North Korean Way
From the publisher’s website: ‘Game changing. Juche is to shape the cultural zeitgeist just as The Little Book of Hygge did.’ Fern Brady ‘A book to bring shame upon our depraved morals and our wilted-spinach governments.’ Ivo Graham How did North Korea become the top-rated destination on Tripadvisor? The answer is Juche … ‘In this … [Read More]
Being Political Popular: South Korean Art at the Intersection of Popular Culture and Democracy, 1980-2010
From the distributor’s website: Many artworks from recent South Korean history are located in the nebulous but fertile contact zone between public/popular culture and democracy movements. Being Political Popular attempts a thematically focused and historically interventionist inquiry into the current status of South Korean contemporary art, exploring the work of 17 artists and art collectives. Being Political … [Read More]
Cultural Studies and Cultural Industries in Northeast Asia: What a Difference a Region Makes
From the publisher’s website: What difference does a region make? Are the new regional cultures of Northeast Asia the product of individuals fighting to overcome national trade barriers, or are they driven by governments promoting national interests in new ways? Are they the result of economic pursuits alone, or do cultural and political forces play … [Read More]