Imperatives of Culture

Imperatives of Culture

Selected Essays on Korean History, Literature, and Society from the Japanese Colonial Era

In: Korean Classics Library: Historical Materials, 7

Edited by: Christopher P. Hanscom, Walter K. Lew, Youngju Ryu and Robert E. Buswell

University of Hawaii Press | 2013

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824839048

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About this book

This volume contains translations—many appearing for the first time in the English language—of major literary, critical, and historical essays from the colonial period (1910–1945) in Korea. Considered representative of the debates among and between Korean and Japanese thinkers of the colonial period, these texts shed light on relatively unexplored aspects of intellectual life and take part in current conversations around the nature of the colonial experience and its effects on post-liberation Korean society and culture.

The essays, each preceded by a scholarly introduction giving necessary historical and biographical context, represent a diverse spectrum of ideological positions and showcase the complexity of intellectual life and scholarship in colonial Korea. They allow new perspectives on an important period in Korean history, a period that continues to inform political, social, and cultural life in crucial ways across East Asia. The translations also provide an important counterpoint to the imperial archive from the perspective of the colonized and take part in the ongoing reevaluation of the colonial period and “colonial modernity” in both Western and East Asian scholarship.

Imperatives of Culture is intended in part for the increasing number of undergraduate and graduate students in Korean studies as well as for those engaged in the study of East Asia as a whole and a general, educated audience with interests in modern Korea and East Asia. The essays have been carefully selected and introduced in ways that open up avenues for comparison with analyses of colonial literature and history in other national contexts.

Author information

HanscomChristopher P.:

Christopher P. Hanscom is an associate professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles.RyuYoungju:

Youngju Ryu is associate professor of Korean literature at the University of Michigan.BuswellRobert E.:

Robert E. Buswell, Jr. holds the Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Humanities at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he is also Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and founding director of the university’s Center for Buddhist Studies and Center for Korean Studies.

Reviews

“Imperatives of Culture is a landmark in bringing important Korean texts from the colonial period into the English-speaking world. Intellectuals and writers who were central to debates over Korean identity and culture—which in the 1930s and 1940s the Japanese were trying to eradicate—illumine with insight and often brilliance the dilemmas of an ancient nation captured by a curiously ‘late’ (or late-coming) twentieth-century imperialism. These essays also cast their reflection down to the present, as divided Korea enters its seventh decade. This book rewards multiple readings and will be most useful in the classroom.” —Bruce Cumings, Chair, Department of History, University of Chicago

“Here, finally, for the first time in English we have in one volume the signature voices of many of Korea’s pioneering modernists of the colonial era in their own words and in all their stunning diversity and complexity. Together with the excellent introductions that accompany the original essays, these translations are a gift to all seeking to understand Korea in the larger context of twentieth-century modernity.” —Carter J. Eckert, Yoon Se Young Professor of Korean History, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University
"Imperatives of Culture is a great collection of twelve selceted essays by colonial Korean intellectuals of the left and right..." - Eunhee Park, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Seoul Jopurnal of Korean Studies (Summer 2014

Frontmatter
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Contents
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Foreword
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Acknowledgments
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Introduction
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CHAPTER 1. Yi Kwangsu
Ellie Choi
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CHAPTER 2. Sin Paegu
Jiyeon Kim
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CHAPTER 3. Mun Ilp’yŏng
Sophia Kim
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CHAPTER 4. Ch’oe Namsŏn
Nayoung Aimee Kwon
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CHAPTER 5. Chŏng Inbo
Seung-Ah Lee
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CHAPTER 6. Paek Namun
Charles R. Kim
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CHAPTER 7. Kang Kyŏngae
Sonja M. Kim
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CHAPTER 8. Kim Kirim
Mickey Hong and Walter K. Lew
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CHAPTER 9. Ch’oe Chaesŏ
Christopher P. Hanscom
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CHAPTER 10. Kim Namch’ŏn
Youngju Ryu
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CHAPTER 11. Kim Tongni
Chiyoung Kim
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CHAPTER 12. Son Chint’ae
Mickey Hong
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Contributors
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Index
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Imperatives of Culture

Selected Essays on Korean History, Literature, and Society from the Japanese Colonial Era

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