From the publisher’s website: The international group of contributors of this volume provides, collectively, a multi-layered analysis of the emerging East Asian media culture, using the Korean TV drama as its analytic vehicle. By closely examining the political economy of TV industry, audiences of the regional media flows in terms of gender subjectivity constructions, perceptions … [Read More]
Archives: Books (page 86)
Korean Society: Civil Society, democracy and the state
From the publisher’s website: While most analyses of Korean politics have looked to elites to explain political change, this new and revised edition of Korean Society examines the role of ordinary people in this dramatic transformation. Taking the innovative theme of ‘civil society’ – voluntary organizations outside the role of the state which have participated … [Read More]
Korean Nationalism Betrayed
Written by Joong-Seok Seo, an eminent Korean historian and a thinker of rare originality, this book examines the tumultuous history of modern Korea from the perspective of nationalism. Based on the author’s extensive research and wide-ranging experience, the book goes to the heart of critical questioning about the political uses and abuses of nationalism by … [Read More]
Life in Ceramics: Five Contemporary Korean Artists
Korea has an enduring history as a world-renowned center of ceramic production. While the development of other Korean art forms—whether calligraphy, painting, architecture, or sculpture—is strongly linked with that of neighboring China, Korean ceramics stand out as highly individual and largely independent of such intercultural exchanges. Perhaps their most remarkable quality is an inherent spontaneity; … [Read More]
A Companion to Korean Art
From the publisher’s website: The only college-level publication on Korean art history written in English Korean pop culture has become an international phenomenon in the past few years. The popularity of the nation’s exports—movies, K-pop, fashion, television shows, lifestyle and cosmetics products, to name a few—has never been greater in Western society. Despite this heightened … [Read More]
K-pop – The International Rise of the Korean Music Industry
From the publisher’s website: K-pop, described by Time Magazine in 2012 as “South Korea’s greatest export”, has rapidly achieved a large worldwide audience of devoted fans largely through distribution over the Internet. This book examines the phenomenon, and discusses the reasons for its success. It considers the national and transnational conditions that have played a … [Read More]
Hyecho’s Journey: The World of Buddhism
In the year 721, a young Buddhist monk named Hyecho set out from the kingdom of Silla, on the Korean peninsula, on what would become one of the most extraordinary journeys in history. Sailing first to China, Hyecho continued to what is today Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, before taking the Silk … [Read More]
Constructing “Korean” Origins: A Critical Review of Archaeology, Historiography, and Racial Myth in Korean State-Formation Theories
In this wide-ranging study, Hyung Il Pai examines how archaeological finds from throughout Northeast Asia have been used in Korea to construct a myth of state formation. This myth emphasizes the ancient development of a pure Korean race that created a civilization rivaling those of China and Japan and a unified state controlling a wide area in … [Read More]
Heritage Management in Korea and Japan: The Politics of Antiquity and Identity
From the publisher’s website: Imperial tombs, Buddhist architecture, palaces, and art treasures in Korea and Japan have attracted scholars, collectors, and conservators—and millions of tourists. As iconic markers of racial and cultural identity at home and abroad, they are embraced as tangible sources of immense national pride and popular “must-see” destinations. This book provides the … [Read More]
Makers of Modern Korean Buddhism
An overview of Korean Buddhism and its major figures in the modern period. The first book in English devoted exclusively to modern Korean Buddhism, this work provides a comprehensive exploration for scholars, students, and serious readers. Makers of Modern Korean Buddhism focuses on three key areas: Buddhist reform, Zen revival, and the interrelationship of religion, history, and … [Read More]
The KPOP Dictionary: 500 Essential Korean Slang Words and Phrases Every K-Pop, K-Drama, K-Movie Fan Should Know
From the publisher’s website: “Take a Peek into the Psychology of Modern Korean People Through Slang” -李宇龙, SM Entertainment- “The Kpop Dictionary is a fun mix of common slang and adages frequently found in Kpop and Korean Dramas which will help provide abase for understanding that goes far beyond subtitles. As a YouTube personality who … [Read More]
Becoming Kim Jong Un: Understanding North Korea’s Young Dictator
From the publisher’s website: ‘The young dictator comes under close scrutiny in this intelligent account’ Sunday Times The mysterious, brutal, and calculating Kim Jong Un has risen to become the unchallenged dictator of a nuclear rogue state. He now possesses weaponry capable of threatening America and its allies, and his actions have already significantly changed … [Read More]
The Korean War: An International History
From the publisher’s website: This classic history of the Korean War—from its origins through the armistice—is now available in a paperback edition including a substantive introduction that considers the heightened danger of a new Northeast Asian war as Trump and Kim Jong-un escalate their rhetoric. Wada Haruki, one of the world’s leading scholars of the … [Read More]
Under The Loving Care Of The Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty
From the publisher’s website: Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader offers in-depth portraits of North Korea’s two ruthless and bizarrely Orwellian leaders, Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. Lifting North Korea’s curtain of self-imposed isolation, this book will take readers inside a society, that to a Westerner, will appear to be from another planet. Subsisting … [Read More]
The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot
From the publisher’s website: A non-fiction thriller by international bestselling author Blaine Harden (Escape from Camp 14) that explores the world’s most repressive state through the intertwined lives of two North Koreans, one infamous, one obscure: Kim Il Sung, the former North Korean leader and No Kum Sok, once the state’s youngest jet fighter pilot. … [Read More]
The Annals of King T’aejo: Founder of Korea’s Chosŏn Dynasty
From the publisher’s website: Never before translated into English, this official history of the reign of King T’aejo—founder of Korea’s long, illustrious Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910 CE)—is a unique resource for reconstructing life in late-fourteenth-century Korea. Its narrative of a ruler’s rise to power includes a wealth of detail not just about politics and war but … [Read More]