490 books match the query 'Asian' and 4 start with k

cover of Kannani and Document of Flames: Two Japanese Colonial Novels

Kannani and Document of Flames

Two Japanese Colonial Novels

Katsuei Yuasa

Duke University Press, 2005

This volume makes available for the first time in English two of the most important novels of Japanese colonialism: Yuasa Katsuei’s Kannani and Document of Flames. Born in Japan in 1910 and raised in Korea, Yuasa was an eyewitness to the ravages of the Japanese occupation. In both of the novels presented here, he is clearly critical of Japanese imperialism. Kannani (1934) stands alone within Japanese literature in its graphic depictions of the racism and poverty endured by the colonized Koreans. Document of Flames (1935) brings issues of class and gender into sharp focus. It tells the story of Tokiko, a divorced woman displaced from her Japanese home who finds herself forced to work as a prostitute in Korea to support herself and her child. Tokiko eventually becomes a landowner and oppressor of the Koreans she lives amongst, a transformation suggesting that the struggle against oppression often ends up replicating the structure of domination.

In his introduction, Mark Driscoll provides a nuanced and engaging discussion of Yuasa’s life and work and of the cultural politics of Japanese colonialism. He describes Yuasa’s sharp turn, in the years following the publication of Kannani and Document of Flames, toward support for Japanese nationalism and the assimilation of Koreans into Japanese culture. This abrupt ideological reversal has made Yuasa’s early writing—initially censored for its anticolonialism—all the more controversial. In a masterful concluding essay, Driscoll connects these novels to larger theoretical issues, demonstrating how a deep understanding of Japanese imperialism challenges prevailing accounts of postcolonialism.

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cover of Korea Letters in the William Elliot Griffis Collection: An Annotated Selection

Korea Letters in the William Elliot Griffis Collection

An Annotated Selection

Young-mee Yu Cho

Rutgers University Press, 2024

William Elliot Griffis (1843 – 1928) graduated from Rutgers College in 1869 and taught four years in Fukui and Tokyo. After his return to the United States, he devoted himself to his research and writing on East Asia throughout his life. He authored 20 books about Japan and five books about Korea including, Corea: The Hermit Nation (1882), Corea, Without and Within: Chapters on Corean History, Manners and Religion (1885), The Unmannerly Tiger, and Other Korean Tales (1911), A Modern Pioneer in Korea: The Life Story of Henry G. Appenzeller (1912), and Korean Fairy Tales (1922). In particular, his bestseller, Corea: The Hermit Nation (1882) was reprinted numerous times through nine editions over thirty years. He was not only known as "the foremost interpreter of Japan to the West before World War I but also the American expert on Korea. After his death, his collection of books, documents, photographs and ephemera was donated to Rutgers.

The Korean materials in the Griffis Collection at Rutgers University consist of journals, correspondence, articles, maps, prints, photos, postcards, manuscripts, scrapbooks, and ephemera. These papers reflect Griffis's interests and activities in relation to Korea as a historian, scholar, and theologian. They provide a rare window into the turbulent period of late nineteenth- and twentieth-century Korea, witnessed and evaluated by Griffis and early American missionaries in East Asia. The Korea Letters in the William Elliot Griffis Collection are divided into two parts: letters from missionaries and letters from Japanese and Korean political figures. Newly available and accessible through this collection, these letters develop a multifaceted history of early American missionaries in Korea, the Korean independence movement, and Griffis's views on Korean culture.
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cover of Korean Treasures Volume 2: Rare Books, Manuscripts and Artefacts in the Bodleian Libraries and Museums of Oxford University

Korean Treasures Volume 2

Rare Books, Manuscripts and Artefacts in the Bodleian Libraries and Museums of Oxford University

Minh Chung

Bodleian Library Publishing, 2019

Many important and valuable rare books, manuscripts, and artifacts related to Korea have been acquired by donations throughout the long history of the Bodleian Libraries and the museums of the University of Oxford. However, due to an early lack of specialist knowledge in this area, many of these items were largely neglected at first. Following on the publication of the first volume of these forgotten treasures, this book assembles further unique and important Korean antiquities. Notable items include the only surviving Korean example of an eighteenth-century world map, hand-drawn, with a set of twelve globe gores on a single sheet, and official correspondence from the archives of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, which shine a light on the history of Anglican Christian missions in Korea. Additionally, the collection boasts a wealth of photographs, coins, charms, clothing, weaponry, decorative objects, manuscripts, and much, much more.
 
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cover of Korean Treasures: Rare Books, Manuscripts and Artefacts in the Bodleian Libraries and Museums of Oxford University

Korean Treasures

Rare Books, Manuscripts and Artefacts in the Bodleian Libraries and Museums of Oxford University

Minh Chung

Bodleian Library Publishing, 2011

The Bodleian Library and the museums of the University of Oxford are home to many historically significant and valuable manuscripts, rare books, and artifacts related to Korean history and culture. Despite their importance, many of these items have been overlooked within the libraries’ collections and largely neglected by scholars. Korean Treasures seeks to change this by highlighting the many noteworthy and unusual archaeological relics and artworks in the collections and presenting them together in a single volume for the first time. 
 
Notable items included here are the court painting scroll of the funeral procession of King Yongjo (1694–1776); a presentation edition of a book given by King Yongjo to his son-in-law; a group of documents issued by Emperor Kojong (1852–1919) between 1885–86 to confer various titles to his civil and military officials; a sundial made by the famous maker Kang Yun (1830–1898) for Emperor Kojong; a ceramic dish made and signed by Princess Yi Pangja (1901–1989) as well as a rare example of a suit of armor, an ornate helmet of the early sixteenth century, and a general’s quiver and arrows. In addition to the numerous color images of items from the collection, Korean Treasures provides a thorough overview of the extent of the Korean book collections in Oxford and a guide to the locations where some of these treasures can be found.
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