Nationalism in a nation-state reflects its emergent structural, cultural, and personal properties at a given time. In the politico-historical context of South Korea and the globe, the fruits of the 1968 Revolution in France could not reach Korean society under its military regime and exploitative economic structure. This continued to frustrate the grassroots and especially social actors … [Read More]
Booklist: History (page 6)
Voices of the Korean Comfort Women: History Rewritten from Memories
An innumerable number of young women were taken from Korea during the Pacific War to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers. These women including teenagers, euphemistically referred in Japanese documents as Comfort Women, were shipped to the vastly expanded battle fronts throughout the Japan-occupied territories covering from Northern China to Myanmar and to the South … [Read More]
Quietude: A Musical Anthropology of “Korea’s Hiroshima”
Most of us the world over do not know much about the nuclear experience, let alone the 70,000 Korean victims of the atomic bomb or their arts of life and survival. Quietude: A Musical Anthropology of “Korea’s Hiroshima” gives new insight into the overlooked and abused people who have lived and died on the margins … [Read More]
Education, Language and the Intellectual Underpinnings of Modern Korea, 1875-1945
Education, the production of knowledge, identity formation, and ideological hegemony are inextricably linked in early modern and modern Korea. This study examines the production and consumption of knowledge by a multitude of actors and across languages, texts, and disciplines to analyze the formulation, contestation, and negotiation of knowledge. The production and dissemination of knowledge become … [Read More]
Memory Construction and the Politics of Time in Neoliberal South Korea
In Memory Construction and the Politics of Time in Neoliberal South Korea Namhee Lee explores memory construction and history writing in post-1987 South Korea. The massive neoliberal reconstruction of all aspects of society shifted public discourse from minjung (people) to simin (citizen), from political to cultural, from collective to individual. This shift reconstituted people as Homo economicus, rights-bearing and rights-claiming individuals, … [Read More]
The Letters of the Venerable Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop
An English version of the letters of Father Ga Gyeong-ja Choi Yang-eop (1821-1861), the seminarian colleague of the first Korean priest Sung Kim Dae-geon (1821-1846) and the second Korean priest. The Korean Church History Institute (Chairman: Bishop Son Hee-song, Director: Father Cho Han-geon) published the English version of the letters of Father Thomas Choi Yang-eop, … [Read More]
Minor Salvage: The Korean War and Korean American Life Writings
The Korean War, often invoked in American culture as “the forgotten war,” was fought between 1950 and 1953 and ended with an infamous stalemate and the construction of the Korean Peninsula’s Demilitarized Zone. Millions of Korean civilians and refugees were left behind, some of whom would go onto live in the United States. Minor Salvage … [Read More]
The Apology
I exist now. Don’t tell me that I didn’t exist before. How should a nation apologise for the crimes of its past? Seoul, 1991. She kept her silence for over forty years. Then Sun-Hee spoke out, igniting a fire that burns to this day. Yuna is about to uncover a shameful family secret. Priyanka, the … [Read More]
A Global History of Ginseng: Imperialism, Modernity and Orientalism
Sul’s history of the international ginseng trade reveals the cultural aspects of international capitalism and the impact of this single commodity on relations between East and West. Ginseng emerged as a major international commodity in the seventeenth century, when the East India Company began trading it westward. Europeans were drawn to the plant’s efficacy as … [Read More]
Spirit Power: Politics and Religion in Korea’s American Century
Spirit Power explores the manifestation of the American Century in Korean history with a focus on religious culture. It looks back on the encounter with American missionary power from the late nineteenth century, and the long political struggles against the country’s indigenous popular religious heritage during the colonial and postcolonial eras. The book brings an anthropology … [Read More]
Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-Pop
South Korea has the most remarkable of histories. Born from the ashes of colonialism, partition and a devastating war, back in the 1950s there were real doubts about its survival as an independent state. Yet South Korea did survive, and first became known globally for the export of cheap toys, shoes and clothing. Today, South … [Read More]
Gwangju Uprising: The Rebellion for Democracy in South Korea
The essential account of the South Korean 1980 pro-democracy rebellion On 18 May 1980, student activists gathered in the South Korean city of Gwangju to protest the martial law government of General Chun Doo-hwan. The security forces responded with unmitigated violence. Hundreds of students, activists and citizens were arrested, tortured and murdered. This fresh translation … [Read More]
Called by Another Name: A Memoir of the Gwangju Uprising
The American who walked into the turmoil of Korean history After graduating from university, David wanted to make a positive change in the world. He joined the Peace Corps and arrived in South Korea in 1978. He was bestowed with a Korean name, Im Dae-oon and it was his name throughout his time in Korea. … [Read More]
Korea and the Fall of the Mongol Empire: Alliance, Upheaval, and the Rise of a New East Asian Order
Korea and the Fall of the Mongol Empire explores the experiences of the enigmatic and controversial King Gongmin of Goryeo, Wang Gi, as he navigated the upheavals of the mid-fourteenth century, including the collapse of the Mongol Empire and the rise of its successors in West, Central, and East Asia. Drawing on a wealth of … [Read More]
Tigers Unchained: 100 Years of Korean Anarchism
From its introduction in the early-twentieth century during the National Liberation Movement to its influence on contemporary politics and culture, anarchism has had a deep, historical significance in Korea. Tigers Unchained explores that significance through lenses that are simultaneously political, cultural, historical, and aesthetic. This translation constitutes a major contribution to multiple fields, while providing new ways … [Read More]
Historical Statistics of Korea
This book presents economic statistics of Korea in the past three centuries, focusing on the century following 1910. The data, typically time series rather than cross-sectional, are given in 22 chapters, which refer to population, wages, prices, education, health, national income and wealth, and technology, among others. Rather than simply putting together available data, the … [Read More]