Korea Between Empires, 1895-1919 - (Studies of the East Asian Institute (Columbia Paperback)) by Andre Schmid (Paperback)

About the Book

Turning from more traditional modes of historical inquiry, Korea Between Empires explores the formative influence of language and social discourse on conceptions of nationalism, national identity, and the nation-state.

Book Synopsis

Korea Between Empires chronicles the development of a Korean national consciousness. It focuses on two critical periods in Korean history and asks how key concepts and symbols were created and integrated into political programs to create an original Korean understanding of national identity, the nation-state, and nationalism. Looking at the often-ignored questions of representation, narrative, and rhetoric in the construction of public sentiment, Andre Schmid traces the genealogies of cultural assumptions and linguistic turns evident in Korea's major newspapers during the social and political upheavals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Newspapers were the primary location for the re-imagining of the nation, enabling readers to move away from the conceptual framework inherited from a Confucian and dynastic past toward a nationalist vision that was deeply rooted in global ideologies of capitalist modernity. As producers and disseminators of knowledge about the nation, newspapers mediated perceptions of Korea's precarious place amid Chinese and Japanese colonial ambitions and were vitally important to the rise of a nationalist movement in Korea.

Review Quotes

enriches our understanding of Korean nationalism...This book is a joy to read--Kenneth Wells "Asian Studies Review"

A breathtaking historiography, magisterial in sweep, elegant in structure, lucid in idiom, and insightful and illuminating in interpretation... The book's strengths are likely to make it an unrivaled work of scholarship on modern Korea for a long time to come.-- "American Historical Review"

A fascinating study in the recent intellectual history of Korea... highly recommended.--Michael Finch "Acta Koreana"

I highly recommend Schmid's book as an earnest narrative that illumines the cultural and intellectual setting and dialogues.--Jacqueline Pak "Journal of Asian Studies"

In this provocative new study Andre Schmid examines how intellectuals of the Korean 'patriotic enlightenment movement' began to re-imagine their own society as a national community... [A] persuasively argued and felicitously written book.--Peter Duus "Korean Studies"

Schmid provides a stimulating tour of current theorizing about the nation and nationalism... profoundly stimulating and highly recommended.-- "Choice"

Schmid's book is a welcom and important contribution...deft and elegant prose--Sheila Miyoshi jager "Journal of Asian History"

Schmid's new book is a significant contribution to the English-language study of Korean nationalism at the turn of the twentieth century... a rich and rewarding study.--Christine J. Kim "Pacific Affairs"

About the Author

Andre Schmid is associate professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto.