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The Korean War Remembered: Contested Memories of an Unended Conflict
Michael J. Devine provides a fresh, wide-ranging, and international perspective on the contested memory of the 1950–1953 conflict that left the Korean Peninsula divided along a heavily fortified demilitarized zone. His work examines “theaters of memory,” including literature, popular culture, public education efforts, monuments, and museums in the United States, China, and the two Koreas, to explain how contested memories have evolved over decades and how they continue to shape the domestic and foreign policies of the countries still involved in this unresolved struggle for dominance and legitimacy. The Korean War Remembered also engages with the revisionist school of historians who, influenced by America’s long nightmare in Vietnam, consider the Korean War an unwise U.S. interference in a civil war that should have been left to the Koreans to decide for themselves.
As a former Peace Corps volunteer to Korea, a two-time senior Fulbright lecturer at Korean universities, and former director of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, Devine offers the unique perspective of a scholar with half a century of close ties to Korea and the Korean American community, as well as practical experience in the management of historical institutions.
As a former Peace Corps volunteer to Korea, a two-time senior Fulbright lecturer at Korean universities, and former director of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, Devine offers the unique perspective of a scholar with half a century of close ties to Korea and the Korean American community, as well as practical experience in the management of historical institutions.
346 pages, Hardcover
Published August 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 28, 2024
Just finished:
"The Korean War Remembered: Contested Memories of an Unended Conflict"
By: Michael J. Devine.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2023.
A compelling mix of history and memory that documents not what happened during the war but how it has been remembered over time through memories and monuments.
Before the 1980s, the Korean War (and yes, congress upgraded it from a "police action" to a war in 1999), was remembered as America's first defeat. This was the first war the United States fought with limited objectives, where the president didn't ask for a declaration of war (future presidents would get congressional approval of some sort). However, the war was mostly forgotten because it was the sacrifice and victory of WWII nor was it the quagmire of Vietnam.
During the Korean War and for a while after it, many of the troops didn't get much recognition. When they did, it was for being weak. Many people at the time thought that the troops were too "babied" by their mothers and those who were captured as POWs have information readily (or were brainwashed, a concept in popular culture at the time).
It wasn't until the Vietnam War Memorial went up that Korean veterans felt like they could get the recognition they deserved. Attitudes changed on the conflict when South Korea became a democracy.
The war has been remembered differently at different times among the United States and South Korea. The views of the North Korea and China have remained the same.
I enjoyed the book. (The author did make the mistake or referring to Kansas Senator Pat Roberts as Pat Robertson).
"The Korean War Remembered: Contested Memories of an Unended Conflict"
By: Michael J. Devine.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2023.
A compelling mix of history and memory that documents not what happened during the war but how it has been remembered over time through memories and monuments.
Before the 1980s, the Korean War (and yes, congress upgraded it from a "police action" to a war in 1999), was remembered as America's first defeat. This was the first war the United States fought with limited objectives, where the president didn't ask for a declaration of war (future presidents would get congressional approval of some sort). However, the war was mostly forgotten because it was the sacrifice and victory of WWII nor was it the quagmire of Vietnam.
During the Korean War and for a while after it, many of the troops didn't get much recognition. When they did, it was for being weak. Many people at the time thought that the troops were too "babied" by their mothers and those who were captured as POWs have information readily (or were brainwashed, a concept in popular culture at the time).
It wasn't until the Vietnam War Memorial went up that Korean veterans felt like they could get the recognition they deserved. Attitudes changed on the conflict when South Korea became a democracy.
The war has been remembered differently at different times among the United States and South Korea. The views of the North Korea and China have remained the same.
I enjoyed the book. (The author did make the mistake or referring to Kansas Senator Pat Roberts as Pat Robertson).
November 29, 2023
Devine's latest work on the Korean War provides a good survey of the current historical work regarding the Korean War and is an excellent book for those who have become newly curious or want a modern historiography. However, this book feels more like a survey and doesn't really add anything new to the field of Korean War studies. Devine has also served as the director of the Truman Library for a number years which affords him unique (but also biased?) insight into the Korean War.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews