Korea's Place in the Sun: a Modern History by
Bruce Cumings's rich narrative focuses on Korea's fractured, shattered, twentieth-century history. In 1910 Korea lost its centuries-old independence, and it remained an exploited colony of Japan until 1945. Then came national division, political turmoil, a devastating war, and the death and dislocation of millions, all of which left Korea still divided and in desperate poverty. Its recovery and spectacular growth over the next generation is one of this century's most remarkable achievements.
The Northern Region of Korea by
Through the use of storytelling, linguistic analysis, and journal entries from turn-of-the-century missionaries and traveling Russians in addition to many varieties of unconventional primary sources, the authors creatively explore unfamiliar terrain while examining the culture, identity, and regional distinctiveness of the northern region and its people.
Korea: A Cartographic History by
The first general history of Korea as seen through maps, Korea: A Cartographic History provides a beautifully illustrated introduction to how Korea was and is represented cartographically.
Music in Korea by
Kwon uses three themes--Korea as a transnational player in East Asia, the intersection of Korean music and cultural politics, and Korea's maintenance of its strong cultural identity through both musical and aesthetic continuity--to survey the region and draw parallels and contrasts between its various traditions
K-Pop by
K-Pop: Popular Music, Cultural Amnesia, and Economic Innovation in South Korea seeks at once to describe and explain the emergence of export-oriented South Korean popular music and to make sense of larger South Korean economic and cultural transformations. John Lie provides not only a history of South Korean popular music—the premodern background, Japanese colonial influence, post-Liberation American impact, and recent globalization—but also a description of K-pop as a system of economic innovation and cultural production.
P'ungmul: South Korean Drumming and Dance by
On visiting -- Assets and contexts -- Historical traces -- By and for "the people" -- Transmitted by mouth, taken in by heart -- The repertoire -- Timely reflections.
Voices from the Straw Mat: Toward an Ethnography of Korean Story Singing by
From its humble' straw mat' origins to its paradoxical status as a national treasure, p'ansori has survived centuries of change and remains the primary source of Korean narrative and poetic consciousness. In this innovative work, Chan Park celebrates her subject not as a static phenomenon but a living, organic tradition adapting to an ever-shifting context.
New Korean Wave by
The 2012 smash'Gangnam Style'by the Seoul-based rapper Psy capped the triumph of Hallyu, the Korean Wave of music, film, and other cultural forms that have become a worldwide sensation. Dal Yong Jin analyzes the social and technological trends that transformed South Korean entertainment from a mostly regional interest aimed at families into a global powerhouse geared toward tech-crazy youth.
The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry by
Modern Korean Poetry is the only up-to-date representative gathering of Korean poetry from the twentieth century in English, far more generous in its selection and material than previous anthologies. It presents 228 poems by 34 modern Korean poets, including renowned poets such as So Chongju and Kim Chiha.
Anthology of Korean Literature: from early times to the nineteenth century by
This books offers a comprehensive sampling of the major genres of poetry and prose written from about A.D. 600 to the end of the nineteenth century. The book contains a dazzling array of myths and legends, essays and biographies, love poems and Zen poems, satirical tales and tales of wonder, stories of adventure and of heroism, as well as quieter works treating the farmer's works and days and the pleasures and sorrows of the simple life.
Flowers of Fire: Twentieth-Century Korean Stories by
Twentieth-century Korean fiction has managed to thrive in perhaps the World's most adverse literary environment. From the Japanese occupation in 1910, and the outlawing of the Korean language, to the division of the country after World War II and the subsequent civil war, dictatorship, and censorship, the literary arts have not only survived but flourished.
The Red Room: Stories of Trauma in Contemporary Korea by
Modern Korean fiction is to a large extent a literature of witness to the historic upheavals of twentieth-century Korea. Often inspired by their own experiences, contemporary writers continue to show us how individual Koreans have been traumatized by wartime violence—whether the uprooting of whole families from the ancestral home, life on the road as war refugees, or the violent deaths of loved ones.
Into the Light: An Anthology of Literature by Koreans in Japan by
Although diverse in style and subject matter, all of the stories gathered in this volume ask a single consuming question: What does it mean to be Korean in Japan? Some stories record their contemporary milieu, while others focus on internal turmoil or document social and legal discrimination. More generally, they consider the relationship of Korean ethnicity to sexuality, family, culture, politics, and history.
Korean Art from the 19th Century to the Present by
Interest in modern and contemporary art from South as well as North Korea has grown in strength. But how are we to understand Korean art and its cultural significance? What has led to the formation of Korea's cultural scene as we know it today, and what role have artists played in this process? These are some of the questions that frame this history of Korean art.
Treasures from Korea: Art Through 5000 Years by
The prehistoric period -- The three kingdoms (57 BC - AD 668) -- Unified Silla (AD 668 - 935) -- Koryo Dynasty (AD 918 - 1392) -- Choson Dynasty (AD 1392 - 1910) -- Paintings
Undiscovered Art from the Korean War by
This richly illustrated survey of Korean art from the Korean War (1950-1953) introduces a missing chapter in the history of Korean modern art through selected pieces from the collection of Chester and Wanda Chang. The authors, who are researchers within the Smithsonian's Asian Cultural History Program, carried out this study as a contribution to the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice.
Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method by
Starting in the mid-1960s, a group of Korean artists began to push paint, soak canvas, drag pencils, rip paper, and otherwise manipulate the materials of painting in ways that prompted critics to describe their actions as "methods" rather than artworks. A crucial artistic movement of twentieth-century Korea, Tansaekhwa (monochromatic painting) also became one of its most famous and successful.