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Nam Center Colloquium Series | North Korea: The State Built by Narrative

Hyungki Shin, Professor of Korean Language and Literature, Yonsei University
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
4:00-5:30 PM
Room 1636 School of Social Work Building Map
This lecture will address the decisive role played by narratives in the establishment of North Korea. The most notable of these narratives concerns the history of anti-Japanese armed struggle. Conferring a sense of sovereignty, authenticity, and legitimacy to the North Korean state, anti-Japanese armed struggle has continued to serve as a rich source of nationalist lore and a highly effective vehicle for forging identity and unity. In fact, it was by laying claim to this history and narrativizing it in specific ways that Kim Il-sung was able to transform national longing into personal charisma. Kim Il-sung will thus emerge in this presentation not merely as the represented hero of anti-Japanese armed struggle, but as that narrative’s definitive author.

Hyungki Shin is a professor at the Department of Korean Language and Literature of Yonsei University in South Korea, where he teaches Korean literature and history of modern Korean criticism.

Professor Shin has conducted research, among other topics, on Korean literature in the post-liberation period and on North Korean literature.

His publications include “A Study on Literary Movements after the Liberation of Korea” (1988) (Haebang chikhu ŭi munhak undongnon), “A Study on Stories in the Liberation Period” (Haebanggi sosŏl yŏn'gu) (1992), “Understanding North Korean Fiction” (Pukhan sosŏl ŭi ihae) (1996), “Transition and Fate” (Pyŏnhwa wa unmyŏng) (1997), “A History of North Korean Literature: From Anti-Japanese Revolutionary Literature to ‘Juche’ Literature” (Pukhan munhaksa : hangil hyŏngmyŏng munhak esŏ chuch'e munhak kkaji) (2000), “Fascism in Literature” (Munhak sok ŭi p'asijŭm) (2001), “Beyond Nation Narrative” (Minjok iyagi rŭl nŏmŏsŏ) (2003), “Narrated History―A Criticism on the Figure of History depicted by Narrative” (Iyagi toen yŏksa : Nam-Pukhan minjok iyagi ka kŭryŏnaen yŏksasang pip'an) (2005), “Records of Schizophrenia; Re-reading Fictions Modernism from the Periphery” (Punyŏl ŭi kirok : chubyŏnbu modŏnijŭm sosŏl ŭl tasi ikta) (2010), “Narratives of the Age, Age of Narratives” (Sidae ŭi iyagi, iyagi ŭi sidae) (2015).
Building: School of Social Work Building
Event Type: Lecture / Discussion
Tags: Asia
Source: Happening @ Michigan from Nam Center for Korean Studies, International Institute, Asian Languages and Cultures