Description
Book SynopsisSheds light on an understudied aspect of transnational adoption: the impact of adoptees on their birth country, and especially on their birth families
Trade Review"A compelling ethnography of Korean adoptee reunions, which come to life not as inevitable kinship connections, but as social and cultural work. To great effect, Prébin zooms in on South Koreas signature reunion television program as a window on nothing short of the countrys emotional life. . . . A must-read for those with interests in adoption, kinship, media, and the Koreas." -- Nancy Abelmann,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"Anthropological readers will admire the innovative way in which the author uses various recent anthropological perspectives when dealing with a topic that did not even exist a generation ago. She also invites us to rethink the supposedly fundamental distinction between the anthropologist and 'the other' that dissolves in her case." -- Jan de Wolf * European Association of Social Anthropologists *
"In this beautifully written book, Elise Prébin breaks new ground in the literature on transnational adoption. Juxtaposing the halting, uncertain course of her own emerging relationship with her birth family to the highly stylized emotional scripting of a popular Korean TV show, Prébin situates adoption in the context of other narratives of separation while analyzing its potential for realizing biological relatedness. She offers a highly original account that moves away from polarized debates to engage with the implications of transnational adoption over time for the birth family, the adopted person, and the sending nation, providing a powerful new voice that will transform the way we understand relatedness." -- Barbara Yngvesson,Hampshire College
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Part I: Meeting the Birth Country1. Shift in South Korean Policies toward Korean Adoptees, 1954-Today2. Everyday Encounters 3. Holt International Summer School or Three-Week Re-Koreanization, 1999-2004 4. Stratification and Homogeneity at the Korean Broadcasting System, 2003 5. National Reunification and Family Meetings Part II: Meeting the Birth Family6. Stories behind History 7. Meetings' Aftermaths 8. Evolving Relationship with My Birth Family 9. Management of Feelings 10. Meeting the Lost and the Dead Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index About the Author
