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

by Gi-Wook Shin, Kyung Moon Hwang, Jong-Chul Ahn, Don Baker University of British Col, Juna Byun

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742519626
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/11/2003
Series:	Asia/Pacific/Perspectives
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.78(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.43(d)

About the Author

Gi-Wook Shin is associate professor of sociology and senior fellow at the Institute for International Studies, Stanford University. Kyung Moon Hwang is assistant professor of history, University of Southern California.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1 Contentious Kwangju
Part I 2 Origins and Development
Chapter 1 3 The Formation of an Absolute Community
Chapter 2 4 Simin'gun: Citizens' Army during Kwangju Uprising
Chapter 3 5 An American Missionary's View
Chapter 4 6 Has Kwangju Been Realized?
Part II 7 Legacy and Representation
Chapter 5 8 From Heroic Victims to Disabled Survivors: The 5.18 Injured after Twenty Years
Chapter 6 9 The Kwangju Uprising as a Vehicle of Democratization: A Comparative Perspective
Chapter 7 10 Victims and Heroes: Competing Visions of May 18
Chapter 8 11 Re-inventing the Region: The Cultural Politics of Place in Kwangju City and South Cholla Province
Afterword 12 The Historical Watershed

Editorial Reviews

Contentious Kwangju is a must-read for scholars of contemporary Korean history and those interested in issues of civil society, democratization, and contested visions of the past more generally. Gi-Wook Shin presents a masterful overview of the events of May 1980, impressive for both its breadth and brevity.

An excellent and indispensable work, a first of its kind, weaving vivid eyewitness accounts with a range of insightful scholarly perspectives that probe the multiple meanings of one of the great, defining moments in the history of Korean democratization.

Combining vivid eyewitness reflections (part 1) with insightful scholarly analyses of the uprising's outcomes (part 2), the editors of this volume, Gi-Wook Shin and Kyung Moon Hwang, endeavor to provide a balanced and comprehensive reassessment of the Kwangju uprising. Together, these essays constitute a comprehensive study of the multiple and shifting meanings of this seminal event. This book is by far the most balanced and comprehensive English-language reassessment of the events. Contentious Kwangju offers a superb and multifaceted lecture on the politics of memory surrounding the Kwangju uprising and is required reading for anyone interested in the history of Korean democratization.

Shin and Hwang splendidly interlace the complexity of the 5-18 Kwangju democratization movement, a defining moment in Korean history.

This book deserves the attention of those with general interests in social movements and historical memory. More specifically, the volume should be carefully studied by students of democratic transitions, and by all observers of South Korea's recent history and contemporary social and political life.

This is a fascinating book and I applaud the editors' efforts to examine the Kwangju massacre with some historical perspective. The passage of time has led to a more accurate view of those tragic events both with respect to the individual assesments of the impact on individual lives as well as the critical role it played in the democratization of Korea.

From the Publisher

Shin and Hwang splendidly interlace the complexity of the 5-18 Kwangju democratization movement, a defining moment in Korean history.

Journal of Asian Studies

Combining vivid eyewitness reflections (part 1) with insightful scholarly analyses of the uprising's outcomes (part 2), the editors of this volume, Gi-Wook Shin and Kyung Moon Hwang, endeavor to provide a balanced and comprehensive reassessment of the Kwangju uprising. Together, these essays constitute a comprehensive study of the multiple and shifting meanings of this seminal event. This book is by far the most balanced and comprehensive English-language reassessment of the events. Contentious Kwangju offers a superb and multifaceted lecture on the politics of memory surrounding the Kwangju uprising and is required reading for anyone interested in the history of Korean democratization.

American Journal of Sociology

An excellent and indispensable work, a first of its kind, weaving vivid eyewitness accounts with a range of insightful scholarly perspectives that probe the multiple meanings of one of the great, defining moments in the history of Korean democratization.

Carter J. Eckert

This is a fascinating book and I applaud the editors' efforts to examine the Kwangju massacre with some historical perspective. The passage of time has led to a more accurate view of those tragic events both with respect to the individual assesments of the impact on individual lives as well as the critical role it played in the democratization of Korea.

Korean Quarterly

This book deserves the attention of those with general interests in social movements and historical memory. More specifically, the volume should be carefully studied by students of democratic transitions, and by all observers of South Korea's recent history and contemporary social and political life.

American Historical Review

Contentious Kwangju is a must-read for scholars of contemporary Korean history and those interested in issues of civil society, democratization, and contested visions of the past more generally. Gi-Wook Shin presents a masterful overview of the events of May 1980, impressive for both its breadth and brevity.

Journal Of Asian Studies

Combining vivid eyewitness reflections (part 1) with insightful scholarly analyses of the uprising's outcomes (part 2), the editors of this volume, Gi-Wook Shin and Kyung Moon Hwang, endeavor to provide a balanced and comprehensive reassessment of the Kwangju uprising. Together, these essays constitute a comprehensive study of the multiple and shifting meanings of this seminal event. This book is by far the most balanced and comprehensive English-language reassessment of the events. Contentious Kwangju offers a superb and multifaceted lecture on the politics of memory surrounding the Kwangju uprising and is required reading for anyone interested in the history of Korean democratization.

American Journal Of Sociology