Generational Struggle: Postwar Korean Views of Anti-colonial Violence in Minshu Chōsen and Hinawajū no uta
Considering a variety of historical incidents, this study examines how liberated Koreans living in postwar Japan wrote about resistance movements of the colonial period. I argue that as part of the mission to develop a new founding mythos for the modern Korean nation (envisioned as a single unified...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Japanese Language and Literature |
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| Online Access: | http://jll.pitt.edu/ojs/JLL/article/view/384 |
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| author | Robert Joseph Del Greco |
| author_facet | Robert Joseph Del Greco |
| author_sort | Robert Joseph Del Greco |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Considering a variety of historical incidents, this study examines how liberated Koreans living in postwar Japan wrote about resistance movements of the colonial period. I argue that as part of the mission to develop a new founding mythos for the modern Korean nation (envisioned as a single unified state) several of these authors focused on establishing the necessity for violent anti-Japanese resistance, valorizing the historical incidents of it, and tying these acts to the development of Marxist political consciousness. By juxtaposing the agitprop editorials of a Korean centered postwar magazine, ‘Democratic Korea’ (Minshu Chōsen, 1946-1950), with Ho Nam-gi’s 1951 epic poem The Song of the Musket (Hinawajū no uta), I connect the efforts of political activists with the budding movement of Korean cultural workers using the Japanese language as a medium. In both cases, Koreans voiced their anti-colonial critique directly to the former colonizer and situated Korean resistance movements within a broader and ennobled historical context.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-daef96208ca14f23851ed7b56745a77b |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1536-7827 2326-4586 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | University Library System, University of Pittsburgh |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Japanese Language and Literature |
| spelling | doaj-art-daef96208ca14f23851ed7b56745a77b2025-08-20T02:12:15ZengUniversity Library System, University of PittsburghJapanese Language and Literature1536-78272326-45862025-04-0159110.5195/jll.2025.384Generational Struggle: Postwar Korean Views of Anti-colonial Violence in Minshu Chōsen and Hinawajū no utaRobert Joseph Del Greco0Oakland University Considering a variety of historical incidents, this study examines how liberated Koreans living in postwar Japan wrote about resistance movements of the colonial period. I argue that as part of the mission to develop a new founding mythos for the modern Korean nation (envisioned as a single unified state) several of these authors focused on establishing the necessity for violent anti-Japanese resistance, valorizing the historical incidents of it, and tying these acts to the development of Marxist political consciousness. By juxtaposing the agitprop editorials of a Korean centered postwar magazine, ‘Democratic Korea’ (Minshu Chōsen, 1946-1950), with Ho Nam-gi’s 1951 epic poem The Song of the Musket (Hinawajū no uta), I connect the efforts of political activists with the budding movement of Korean cultural workers using the Japanese language as a medium. In both cases, Koreans voiced their anti-colonial critique directly to the former colonizer and situated Korean resistance movements within a broader and ennobled historical context. http://jll.pitt.edu/ojs/JLL/article/view/384ZainichiJapanese literatureKoreans in Japanpostcolonial literature |
| spellingShingle | Robert Joseph Del Greco Generational Struggle: Postwar Korean Views of Anti-colonial Violence in Minshu Chōsen and Hinawajū no uta Japanese Language and Literature Zainichi Japanese literature Koreans in Japan postcolonial literature |
| title | Generational Struggle: Postwar Korean Views of Anti-colonial Violence in Minshu Chōsen and Hinawajū no uta |
| title_full | Generational Struggle: Postwar Korean Views of Anti-colonial Violence in Minshu Chōsen and Hinawajū no uta |
| title_fullStr | Generational Struggle: Postwar Korean Views of Anti-colonial Violence in Minshu Chōsen and Hinawajū no uta |
| title_full_unstemmed | Generational Struggle: Postwar Korean Views of Anti-colonial Violence in Minshu Chōsen and Hinawajū no uta |
| title_short | Generational Struggle: Postwar Korean Views of Anti-colonial Violence in Minshu Chōsen and Hinawajū no uta |
| title_sort | generational struggle postwar korean views of anti colonial violence in minshu chosen and hinawaju no uta |
| topic | Zainichi Japanese literature Koreans in Japan postcolonial literature |
| url | http://jll.pitt.edu/ojs/JLL/article/view/384 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertjosephdelgreco generationalstrugglepostwarkoreanviewsofanticolonialviolenceinminshuchosenandhinawajunouta |