Description
Book SynopsisIn the rich and varied life stories in Under the Black Umbrella, elderly Koreans recall incidents that illustrate the complexities of Korea during the colonial period. Hildi Kang here reinvigorates a period of Korean history long shrouded in the silence of those who endured under the black umbrella of Japanese colonial rule. Existing descriptions of the colonial period tend to focus on extremes: imperial repression and national resistance, Japanese subjugation and Korean suffering, Korean backwardness and Japanese progress. Most people, Kang says, have read or heard only the horror stories which, although true, tell only a small segment of colonial life.The varied accounts in Under the Black Umbrella reveal a truth that is both more ambiguous and more humanthe small-scale, mundane realities of life in colonial Korea. Accessible and attractive narratives, linked by brief historical overviews, provide a large and fully textured view of Korea under Japanese rule. Looking
Trade Review
In this riveting and highly informative collection of oral histories, Kang has intricately woven together these voices into an impressive history of the Japanese colonial period that tells the story of people who lived their lives under the duress of the Japanese.... This is an important book and sheds light on areas not often covered in other works. Most assuredly, Kang's book is a valuable addition to the growing body of works on the Japanese colonial period. The 'voices' that Kang has collected for her book present a fresh view, not to mention a clearer picture of this period of Korean history.
-- Jeffrey Miller * Korea Times *
It is often said that Japan's colonial ventures produced two contrasting legacies: bitterness in Korea and positive memories in Taiwan. This book argues that Koreans had in fact more mixed experiences.
* Foreign Affairs *
The recollections that Kang collected contribute an essential (but to date neglected) ingredient to our understanding of Korea's colonial history. Their contents disturb the neat package that pits the colonizing (Japanese) aggressor against the colonized (Korean) victim.
-- Mark Caprio * Korean Studies Review *
Table of ContentsPreface: Collecting the Interviews
Acknowledgements
Conventions Used
Introduction1. First EncountersPART I: CHANGE BY CHOICE
2. Shouts of Independence
3. A Map Changed My Life—Hong Ulsu
4. Choosing an Education
5. Through the Eye of a Needle—Kang Pyongju
6. Business Ventures and Adventures
7. I Almost Went to Canada—Yi OkhyonPART II: CHANGE BY COERCION
8. A Red Line Marks My Record—Yi Hajon
9. Passive Resistance
10. Thought Police Stay for Dinner—Yu Hyegyong
11. Becoming Japanese
12. Drafted to the Kobe Shipyards—Chong Chaesu
13. The War Effort
14. Mansei Korea Forever—Ten Thousand YearsAPPENDIXES
A. The Interviews
B. Bringing the Stories Up to Date, 1945-1997
C. Historical Overview, 1850-1945Notes
Bibliography
Index of Proper Names
