Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910-1945

Description

In the rich and varied life stories in Under the Black Umbrella, elderly Koreans recall incidents that illustrate the complexities of Korea during the colonial period. Hildi Kang here reinvigorates a period of Korean history long shrouded in the silence of those who endured under the black umbrella of Japanese colonial rule. Existing descriptions of the colonial period tend to focus on extremes: imperial repression and national resistance, Japanese subjugation and Korean suffering, Korean backwardness and Japanese progress. Most people, Kang says, have read or heard only the horror stories which, although true, tell only a small segment of colonial life.The varied accounts in Under the Black Umbrella reveal a truth that is both more ambiguous and more human--the small-scale, mundane realities of life in colonial Korea. Accessible and attractive narratives, linked by brief historical overviews, provide a large and fully textured view of Korea under Japanese rule. Looking past racial hatred and repression, Kang reveals small acts of resistance carried out by Koreans, as well as gestures of fairness by Japanese colonizers. Impressive for the history it recovers and preserves, Under the Black Umbrella is a candid, human account of a complicated time in a contested place. CONTENTS Preface: Collecting the Interviews Acknowledgments Conventions Used Introduction 1. First Encounters PART I: CHANGE BY CHOICE OVERVIEW 2. Shouts of lndependence 3. A Map Changed My Life 4. Choosing an Education 5. Through the Eye of a Needle 6. Business Ventures and Adventures 7. I Almost Went to Canada PART II: CHANGE BY COERCION OVERVIEW 8. A Red Line Marks My Record 9. Passive Resistance 10. Thought Police Stay for Dinner 11. Becoming Japanese 12. Drafted to the Kobe Shipyards 13. The War Effort 14. Mansei Korea Forever-Ten Thousand Years APPENDIXES A. The Interviews B. Bringing the Stories Up to Date, 1945-1997 C. Historical Overview, 1850-1945 Notes Bibliography Index of Proper Names