Vestiges of the Three Kingdoms of Ancient Korea (Samguk yusa) is the first annotated English translation of one of the most important premodern Korean historical texts. One of only two surviving works on the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE–668) and Greater Silla (668–936), the Samguk yusa is a rich collection of historical, supernatural, and mythical stories, including one of … [Read More]
Booklist: History (page 2)
Imperial Entertainers: Korean Women Performers from Military to Global Stages, 1937–75
The book uncovers the untold stories of Korean women performers who navigated successive waves of conflict as cultural laborers in military entertainment, offering insight into the intersection of war, gender, and culture in East Asia. Imperial Entertainers: Korean Women Performers from Military to Global Stages, 1937-1975 uncovers the untold stories of Korean women performers who navigated … [Read More]
Triangle Republics: Cross-Border Literary Transits Between the Cold War Koreas and Japan
In Korea, the end of the Second World War in 1945 brought both liberation from Japanese colonial rule and the division of the nation by the triumphant Allies. The peninsula was not only decoupled from its former colonial metropole but also carved up into two halves that were subsequently incorporated into the rival blocs of … [Read More]
Against the Chains of Utility: Sacrifice and Literature in 1970s and 1980s South Korea
The 1970s and 1980s were pivotal decades in South Korea, marked by rapid industrialization and urbanization. The language of sacrifice was constantly employed by the developmental state to justify its exploitation of workers and violation of countless civil rights as necessary for the nation’s economic growth and security. As a counter to this prevailing rhetoric, … [Read More]
The Sensational Proletarian: Leftist Cultures in Colonial Korea
Starving ghosts, anguished farmers, and grieving mothers. Floating heads, gaunt bodies, and masses of bodily fluids. Such are the visceral sensations, exaggerated affects, and suffering subjects that characterized leftist Korean cultural production in the 1920s and 1930s. In popular fiction, print cartoons, reportage, and other emergent forms of mass culture, scenes detailing the spectacular bodily … [Read More]
Korea: War Without End
A ground-breaking history of this global conflict including the errors and miscalculations made on both sides. Korea: War Without End examines the stand-off between East and West in Korea that ultimately defined the second half of the 20th century. It provides a critical analysis of the lack of preparation by the West for war; the … [Read More]
A Fractured Liberation: Korea under US Occupation
A poignant return to Korea’s forgotten “Asian Spring” — a moment ripe with possibility denied by the postwar US military occupation. When Japanese imperial rule ended in August 1945, the Korean peninsula erupted with hopes that had been bottled up for forty years. New mother Chŏn Sukhŭi marveled at the news, envisioning her son growing … [Read More]
The Routledge Handbook of Early Modern Korea
Korea is a historical region of prominence in the global political economy. Still, a comprehensive overview of its early modern era has yet to receive a book-length treatment in English. Comprising topical chapters written by 22 experts from 11 countries, The Routledge Handbook of Early Modern Korea presents an interdisciplinary survey of Korea’s politics, society, economy, and … [Read More]
Accidental Tyrant: The Life of Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung was the enigmatic architect of North Korea. His life is an extraordinary tale of improbable success: once a barely educated guerrilla fighter, he rose to lead the nation at the young age of 33. Against all odds, he established a horrifyingly stable dictatorial regime, one that still struggles to provide for its people, … [Read More]
The Emplantation of Catholicism in Pre-modern Korea: Texts, Teachings and Gender Relations
Tracing the development of Catholic ideas in Japan and China during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, this book provides an overview of the early emplantation of Catholicism in East Asia and the evolution of the missionary strategy. Kevin Cawley recreates the tumultuous period for gender relations and explores interreligious interactions between Confucians and … [Read More]
Virtue That Matters: Chastity Culture and Social Power in Chosŏn Korea (1392–1910)
Virtue That Matters is a groundbreaking exploration of the intricate dynamics of chastity culture in Chosŏn Korea from 1392 to 1910, shedding light on its political, legal, social, and cultural significance. In this book, Jungwon Kim demonstrates how an emphasis on female chastity came to pervade society as it intertwined with state ideology and elite … [Read More]
Art, War, and Exile in Modern Korea: Rethinking the Life and Work of Lee Qoede
This book celebrates the life and works of Lee Qoede (1913–1965), who focused on art’s social purpose and representation of civilians. He believed “art must be an integral part of the struggle in reality. It cannot simply be a still-life of apples, flowers, or scenery.” Born in South Korea, he was a prisoner of war, … [Read More]
Monks and Literati: The Transformation of Buddhism in Late Chosŏn Korea
Scholars have long debated the relationship between Buddhist monks and Confucian literati during the late Chosŏn (1700–1850), when the Korean state adopted anti-Buddhist policies. On the one hand, it is understood that literati openly displayed hostility toward monks and engineered their persecution; on the other, they were known to have privately supported Buddhism, helping the … [Read More]
Cinema under National Reconstruction: State Censorship and South Korea’s Cold War Film Culture
Cinema under National Reconstruction calls for a revisionist understanding of state film censorship during successive Cold War military regimes in South Korea (1961–1988). Drawing upon primary documents from the Korean Film Archive’s digitized database and framing South Korean film censorship from a transnational perspective, Hye Seung Chung makes the case that, while political oppression/repression existed inside … [Read More]
Contemporary Korean Art: New Directions since the 1960s
Presents new and thematic interpretations of contemporary Korean art. Presenting fresh and thematic interpretations, this book showcases a collection of the most visually captivating, socially intriguing and often overlooked examples of Korean art. Set against the backdrop of a tumultuous history, artists in Korea embarked on explorations of themselves, society and the profound forces shaping … [Read More]
Tiger Season
An American soldier’s life spirals out of control after he makes a fateful discovery on the Korean DMZ and then falls in love with a beautiful brothel courtesan whose tragic past becomes entwined in a volatile confrontation with Communist North Korea. It’s the 1960s, the Vietnam conflict is raging, and a delicate Korean armistice threatens … [Read More]