Primitive Selves: Koreana in the Japanese Colonial Gaze, 1910–1945 (Colonialisms)

Colonialisms

by E. Taylor Atkins

This remarkable book examines the complex history of Japanese colonial and postcolonial interactions with Korea, particularly in matters of cultural policy. E. Taylor Atkins focuses on past and present Japanese fascination with Korean culture as he reassesses colonial anthropology, heritage curation, cultural policy, and Korean performance art in Japanese mass media culture. Atkins challenges the prevailing view that imperial Japan demonstrated contempt for Koreans through suppression of Korean culture. In his analysis, the Japanese preoccupation with Koreana provided the empire with a poignant vision of its own past, now lost--including communal living and social solidarity--which then allowed Japanese to grieve for their former selves. At the same time, the specific objects of Japan's gaze--folk theater, dances, shamanism, music, and material heritage--became emblems of national identity in postcolonial Korea.

Genres: Japan, Japanese History, Grad School, History

280 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2010

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Atkins needs to go back to grade 3 english class and learn how to write a sentence. A sentence should convey one or two ideas maximum not 5 different ideas. If you sentence is an entire paragraph something is wrong. Also Atkins needs to realize the beauty of simplicity. I'm not trying to look up in the dictionary every other word. Even the message of the book wasn't clear. Atkins seems to say that Japanese colonial rule was beneficial for Korea's culture and that colonial rule is what shaped Korean culture. However he explicitly says in his introduction the book was to be about how Korea cultured shaped Japanese culture making them realize that modernization took away Japanese antiquity. His arguments were weak in this aspect but strong in proving how Japanese colonialism is what makes modern day Korea's culture.