Monuments, Memory, and Identity: Constructing the Colonial Past in South Korea: 18 (Welten Ostasiens/Worlds of East Asia/Mondes de l'Extreme-Orient) - Hardcover

Podoler, Guy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3034306601 ISBN 13: 9783034306607

Publisher: Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2011

Synopsis

Between 1910 and 1945 Korea was subjected to Japanese colonial rule. Monuments, Memory, and Identity investigates ways how postcolonial South Korea commemorated this difficult past in light of changing political and social conditions, and against the background of the divided nation. By analyzing museums, memorial halls, parks and monuments, the author deciphers and maps the South Korean commemorative landscape. He analyzes the layouts of the country’s well-known «sites of memory» and explores the on-site plaques, exhibits, and photos as well as the booklets and publications. This book underpins the shifts and trends in recollecting this important historical period by addressing the following questions: How has postcolonial South Korea been constructing and reconstructing its colonial past? Why were certain narratives and images chosen at different times? What debates, controversies, and challenges were involved in this dynamic process? Furthermore, the author discusses the South Korean case within the broader context of the postcolonial discourse.

About this title

About the Author

Guy Podoler is Lecturer at the Department of Asian Studies of the University of Haifa in Israel where he teaches modern and contemporary Korean history. He received his PhD degree in East Asian Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2005. His publications and research areas include Korean memory politics, identity formation, and sports nationalism.

Edition details

• Publisher: Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3034306601
• ISBN 13: 9783034306607
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 276