(Cassell, 1995). Does what it says on the tin. Testimonies by former comfort women. Don’t read this all at once. It’s overwhelming. Update 9 July 2011. In an email to the members of the British Association for Korean Studies, Keith Howard gave the following background to the publication: ‘True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women’ … [Read More]
Featured Posts - page 273
Gi-Wook Shin & Kyung-moon Hwang (eds): Contentious Kwangju
(Rowman & Littlefield, 2003) Varied collection of articles on the subject of Korea’s Tiananmen Square incident, ranging from the eyewitness account to academic reassessment. The people of Kwangju: innocent victims or resistance heroes? Discuss. Links: Bibliography of the Kwangju Uprising (in English) – at Popular Gusts [Read More]
War & Democracy: A Comparative Study of the Korean War and the Peloponnesian War.
David McCann & Barry Strauss (eds) (ME Sharpe, 2001) Crazy title, seemingly of limited readership: ancient historians also interested in modern East Asian history (or vice versa). But it’s a fascinating collection of articles. “How like Alcibiades was General MacArthur?” asks one article… Read a grown-up review of this book over at the Korean Studies … [Read More]
Jahyun Kim Haboush (tr): Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong
The style of this takes a bit of getting used to (and this is attributable to the original author, not the translator), but the content is gripping. This is the autobiographical writings of a Korean crown princess – wife of the heir to the throne – and documents at first hand the intrigues within the … [Read More]
Paul French: North Korea – the paranoid peninsula
(Zed, 2005) Highly readable and wide-ranging book on North Korea. Describes clearly some of the eccentricities of the regime, such as the Sinuiju economic zone, and describes clearly for the benefit of non-economists how it is that a rigid centrally-planned economy is doomed to fail. Links: Buy North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsula at Amazon [Read More]
Bruce Cumings: Korea’s Place in the Sun
(Norton, 2005) A real page-turner of a history book. I was so gripped that I read it like a novel, and now need to go back and read it as a history book. Gives a very useful overview of pre-20th century history, but focuses on the more recent history, which it reassesses from a perspective … [Read More]
Sport and nationalism: YMCA Baseball Team
We’ve just witnessed the triumph and then despair following the ups and downs of the Korean team in the baseball world cup. And the TV commercials are now full of football references. So I just put my copy of YMCA Baseball Team in the DVD player (it’s been on my to-watch pile for rather too … [Read More]
Improve the quality of British TV
Alice Bennell is campaigning on your behalf to get the Jewel in the Palace on British TV. Visit her campaign website and put your signature where it counts here. Photoshop trickery by djgukfan at yahoo dot co dot uk. Nice. [Read More]
Sorry, another rant
So it seems that in order to find out what’s happening in the UK we all have to be avid followers of Seoul-based K-Pop forums. Further to my post yesterday I ran another google search on “Think Korea 2006”, and I found out that three days ago there was a posting at Soompi.com that broke … [Read More]
Korean animation focuses on remakes
Wouldn’t it be great if the Korean animation industry could come up with something better than My Beautiful Girl Mari or Wonderful Days / Sky Blue? Something to rival Miyazaki. There’s obviously a wealth of creative talent in the Korean film industry, but that creativity has never seemed to extend to truly great animated features. … [Read More]
Theatre visit: Eun Me Ahn’s Chunhyang – an impossible love
I’m afraid I lack the critical faculties to describe the evening adequately, but it’s well worth going to and I think I might be going back to see it again tomorrow. It’s two nights only. I went along with an avowed non dance fan and someone who was hoping for something very traditional, and both … [Read More]
Justin Bowyer (ed): The cinema of Japan and Korea
(Wallflower, 2004) A collection of articles from a wide variety of perspectives, some more approachable than others, but all of which encourage you to think beyond what’s on the screen. Links: Buy The Cinema of Japan and Korea at Amazon [Read More]
Anthony Leong: Korean Cinema – the new Hong Kong
(Trafford, 2002) A lively book containing reviews of the most readily accessible recent films. Links: Buy Korean Cinema: The New Hong Kong at Amazon [Read More]
Harold Hakwon Sunoo: Life and Poems of Three Koreans
This is a print-to-order book, rather than one sponsored by a major publishing house. I would have thought that would make it cheaper, but at £14 for a 104 page paperback it’s on the pricey side. And Sunoo is a man seriously in need of a proof-reader and editor. Even a standard version of Word … [Read More]
Nora Okja Keller: Comfort woman / Fox Girl
(Penguin, 1997/Virago 2000) (Penguin 2002/Marion Boyars 2002) Novels told from the perspective of a female underclass — prostitutes in Seoul or Shamans in the Korean community in Hawaii. Well worth a read. Links: Buy Fox Girl | Comfort Woman at Amazon.co.uk [Read More]
Martin Limón: Jade Lady Burning / Slicky Boys / Buddha’s Money
(Soho 1992 / Serpents Tail 1998) (Bantam 1997 / Serpents Tail 1999) (Bantam 1998 / Serpents Tail 2000) Fun detective thrillers set in 1970s Seoul, with two maverick US military policeman on the trail of some pretty gruesome criminals, hanging out in the bars of Itaewon, trawling the murky depths of the Korean underworld and … [Read More]