Imperatives of Culture: Selected Essays on Korean History, Literature, and Society from the Japanese Colonial Era (Korean Classics Library: Historical Materials, 3)

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. Cover Contents Foreword by John Duncan Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 Yi Kwangsu Introduction and Translation by Ellie Choi On National Reconstruction Chapter 2 Sin Paegu Introduction and Translation by Jiyeon Kim Urging the Vanguard of Social Movements to Come Forward Chapter 3 Mun Ilp’yong Introduction by Sophia Kim, Translation by Hijoo Son The Social Standing of Korean Women Chapter 4 Ch’oe Namson Introduction and Translation by Nayoung Aimee Kwon Images of Korea in Japanese Literature Chapter 5 Chong Inbo Introduction and Translation by Seung-Ah Lee Choson's Five Thousand Years of Ol Chapter 6 Paek Namun Introduction and Translation by Charles R. Kim The History of Korean Society and Economy A Theory on the Present Stage of the Korean Economy Chapter 7 Kang Kyongae Introduction and Translation by Sonja M. Kim The Path Choson Women Must Tread Two Hundred Yen for My Manuscript On Leaving Kando, a Farewell to Kando Chapter 8 Kim Kirim Introduction by Mickey Hong and Walter K. Lew, Translation by Walter K. Lew Soliloquies of "Pierrot" - Fragmentary Notions on "Poesie" Chapter 9 Ch’oe Chaeso Introduction and Translation by Christopher P. Hanscom The Expansion and Deepening of Realism: On Scenes by a Stream and "Wings" Chapter 10 Kim Namch’on Introduction and Translation by Youngju Ryu The Judas Within and Literature Chapter 11 Kim Tongni Introduction and Translation by Chiyoung Kim The True Meaning of Pure Literature: A Present Task of National Literature A Personal Opinion on Writing Literature - on the Inclination of My Literary Spirit Chapter 12 Son Chint’ae Introduction and Translation by Mickey Hong Preface to Introduction to the History of the Korean Nation Contributors Index 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. This book 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 Edited By Christopher P. Hanscom, Walter K. Lew, And Youngju Ryu. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.