Description
Book SynopsisNayoung Aimee Kwon examines the Japanese language literature written by Koreans during late Japanese colonialism. She demonstrates that simply characterizing that literature as collaborationist obscures the complicated relationship these authors had with colonialism, modernity, and identity, as well as the relationship between colonizers and the colonized.
Trade Review"Besides many compelling analyses and arguments made in
Intimate Empire, plentiful visual materials provide us a fascinating glimpse into the cultural fields in the empire.... it is a great contribution to the scholarship on colonial culture and imperialism for its exemplary handling of archives and its succinct arguments made based on comparative readings of texts. It is an essential text for researchers of colonial literature, transcultural colonial exchange, cultural fields in wartime Japan, and translation." -- Jooyeon Rhee * Acta Koreana *
"
Intimate Empire is a most welcome addition to transcultural scholarship on East Asian literatures and cultures and sets an excellent example for future research on imperialism in East Asia and well beyond." -- Karen Thornber * Pacific Affairs *
"
Intimate Empire establishes critical questions for historians to ponder, beginning with: Who writes the empire? How does the language they use matter? Kwon has demonstrated many pathways into, as well as offered new and alternate routes for, future discovery." -- Alexis Dudden * American Historical Review *
"Nayoung Aimee Kwon’s examination of Korean authors during the Japanese imperial period is a richly theorized, sensitive, and engaging work of literary and colonial history." -- Denis Gainty * History: Reviews of New Books *
"Kwon's book will become an instant classic of the postcolonial theory approach to colonial Korea's literary scene." -- Janet Poole * Journal of Asian Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
On Naming, Romanization, and Translations xiii
1. Colonial Modernity and the Conundrum of Representation 1
2. Translating Korean Literature 17
3. A Minor Writer 41
4. Into the Light 59
5. Colonial Abject 80
6. Performing Colonial Kitsch 99
7. Overhearing Transcolonial Roundtables 131
8. Turning Local 154
9. Forgetting Manchurian Memories 174
10. Paradox of Postcoloniality 195
Notes 213
Bibliography 247
Index 263
