From the publisher’s website: A broad range of scholars explores the many avenues of cultural production during the Yusin period, casting new light on how it challenged and conformed to the ambitions of the state power. Cultures of Yusin examines the turbulent and yet deeply formative period of time South Korea’s Fourth Republic (1972-79), beginning with … [Read More]
Archives: Books (page 96)
Revisiting Minjung: New Perspectives on the Cultural History of 1980s South Korea
From the publisher’s website: An epoch-marking alliance of laborers, students, dissident intellectuals, and ordinary citizens was at the heart of South Korea’s transformation from a dictatorship into a vibrant democracy during the 1980s. Collectively known as the minjung (“the people”), these agents of Korean democratization historically carved out an expanded role for civil society in the country’s … [Read More]
Offspring of Empire: The Koch’ang Kims and the Colonial Origins of Korean Capitalism, 1876-1945
From the publisher’s website: According to conventional interpretations, the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 destroyed a budding native capitalist economy on the peninsula and blocked the development of a Korean capitalist class until 1945. In this expansive and provocative study, now available in paperback, Carter J. Eckert challenges the standard view and argues that … [Read More]
Flowering Plums and Curio Cabinets: The Culture of Objects in Late Chosŏn Korean Art
From the publisher’s website: The social and economic rise of the chungin class (“middle people” who ranked between the yangban aristocracy and commoners) during the late Chosŏn period (1700–1910) ushered in a world of materialism and commodification of painting and other art objects. Generally overlooked in art history, the chungin contributed to a flourishing art … [Read More]
Epistolary Korea: Letters in the Communicative Space of the Choson, 1392-1910
From the publisher’s website: By expanding the definition of “epistle” to include any writing that addresses the intended receiver directly, JaHyun Kim Haboush introduces readers to the rich epistolary practice of Chosŏn Korea. The Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910) produced an abundance of epistles, writings that mirror the genres of neighboring countries (especially China) while retaining their … [Read More]
The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation
The Imjin War (1592–1598) was a grueling conflict that wreaked havoc on the towns and villages of the Korean Peninsula. The involvement of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean forces, not to mention the regional scope of the war, was the largest the world had seen, and the memory dominated East Asian memory until World War II. … [Read More]
Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions: Yu Hyongwon and the Late Choson Dynasty
Seventeenth-century Korea was a country in crisis—successive invasions by Hideyoshi and the Manchus had rocked the Choson dynasty (1392-1910), which already was weakened by maladministration, internecine bureaucratic factionalism, unfair taxation, concentration of wealth, military problems, and other ills. Yu Hyongwon (1622–1673, pen name, Pan’gye), a recluse scholar, responded to this time of chaos and uncertainty … [Read More]
Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection
From the publisher’s website: From the author of the phenomenal multi-million copy bestseller The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down “Hearing the words ‘be good to yourself first, then to others’ was like being struck by lightning.” Many of us respond to the pressures of life by turning inwards and ignoring problems, sometimes … [Read More]
The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Busy World
From the publisher’s website: THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, WITH OVER THREE MILLION COPIES SOLD AROUND THE WORLD ‘Is it the world that’s busy, or my mind?’ The world moves fast, but that doesn’t mean we have to. In this timely guide to mindfulness, Haemin Sunim, a Buddhist monk born in Korea and educated in the United … [Read More]
The Power of Nunchi: The Korean Secret to Happiness and Success
From the publisher’s website: ‘A must-read for anyone interested in the art of intuitively knowing what others feel.’ Haemin Sunim, author of The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down and Love for Imperfect Things ‘A lovely book to have in your home and your lives.’ Chris Evans, Breakfast Show Nunchi (noon-chee): eye measure. The subtle art of gauging other … [Read More]
North Korea: Beyond Charismatic Politics
From the publisher’s website: This timely, pathbreaking study of North Korea’s political history and culture sheds invaluable light on the country’s unique leadership continuity and succession. Leading scholars Heonik Kwon and Byung-Ho Chung begin by tracing Kim Il Sung’s rise to power during the Cold War. They show how his successor, his eldest son, Kim … [Read More]
The New Koreans: The Business, History and People of South Korea
From the publisher’s website: ‘As good a guide to a fascinating country in transformation as you will get.’ Management Today In the course of a couple of generations, South Koreans took themselves out of the paddy fields and into Silicon Valley, establishing themselves as a democracy alongside the advanced countries of the world. Yet for … [Read More]
Surviving Imperial Intrigues: Korea’s Struggle for Neutrality amid Empires, 1882–1907
In Surviving Imperial Intrigues, Sangpil Jin explores how successful Korean neutralization could have radically transformed the balance of power equation in East Asia. He conducted multilocational archival work, analyzing documents from the Austro-Hungarian Empire Ministry of Foreign Affairs, British Foreign Office, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, German Foreign Office, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Foreign Office, … [Read More]
How Koreans Talk – A Collection of Expressions
From the back cover: If something tastes good, say: “It kills me.” If you’re happy, you “go to Hong Kong.” If a friend wins the lottery, ask: “did you have a pig dream last night?” If someone tells a joke, you might “laugh until your belly button pops out.” Koreans talk with humour and punch, … [Read More]
Guide to Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja
From the publisher’s website: Guide to Korean Characters provides for the first time in English, a practical 367 page handbook for students of the Korean language. It contains all you need to be a literate student of the written language of 78 million Korean people, including hangul, the Korean alphabet, and 1,800 Chinese characters taught … [Read More]
Intermediate Korean: A Grammar and Workbook (2nd Ed)
From the publisher’s website: This revised second edition of Intermediate Korean: A Grammar and Workbook is an accessible reference grammar and related exercises in a single volume. The text can be used in conjunction with any primary textbook, both as a reference guide to the intermediate Korean grammar and a practice book to reinforce learning. This book … [Read More]