Contentious Kwangju: The May 18th Uprising in Korea's Past and Present

by Gi-Wook Shin (Editor), Kyung Moon Hwang (Editor)

One of the largest political protests in contemporary Korean history, the May 1980 Kwangju Uprising still exerts a profound, often contested, influence in Korean society. Through a deft combination of personal reflections and academic analysis, Contentious Kwangju offers a comprehensive examination of the multiple, shifting meanings of this seminal event and explains how the memory of Kwangju has affected Korean life from politics to culture. The first half of the book offers highly personal perspectives on the details of the uprising itself, including the Citizens' Army, the fleeting days of Kwangju citizen autonomy, the activities of American missionaries, and the aftermath following the uprising's suppression by government forces. The second half provides a wide-ranging scholarly assessment of the impact of Kwangju in South Korea, from democratization and the fate of survivors to regional identity and popular culture, concluding with an examination of Kwangju's significance in the larger flow of modern Korean history. In keeping with the book's title, the essays offer competing interpretations of the Kwangju Uprising, yet together provide the most thorough English-language treatment to date of the multifaceted, sweeping significance of this pivotal event.

Genres: History

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty quick and (unfortunately) simple book. The first section focuses on the history of May 18, which is very straight-forward. The meat of the book lies in the second section, wiyh analyses ranging from the effects on survivors, mythologization and memory across media, a comparative political study on the democratizing effects, and a study on regionalism in Korean politics. As the afterword states, Kwangju has been "vindicated" and is now a watershed moment for political and democratic movements in Korean history and its future. Unfortunately, due to this, there isn't much controversy to these studies - ironic, considering the catchy title. I didn't feel as if there was much to be learned or challenged at all in this book. Overall, this was a decent read and a good summary of the movement, but there were few enlightening moments. May 18 is still an important event in history, but I think it's time to dig a little deeper than what these papers present.

[Eugénie Nagel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief yet quite informative. Although the chapters are a bit repetitive, it gave useful information and analysis about the extent of Kwangju's reminiscence in South Korea as well as its key role in the later democratization movements of 1987. I would not read it alone if your goal is to have a full understanding of the South Korea's democratization movements, however, it's a very good start and it was a easy read. Overall, I recommend it.

[Mun · Rating 5 out of 5]

very thorough, gives great and different perspectives to think about gwangju