Monarchy and National Identity in Modern Korea, 1897-1945

FAIN: FT-54687-06

Christine J. Kim
Georgetown University (Washington, DC 20057-0001)

This project focuses on one of the remarkable transformations in modern Korean history: the demise of its traditional political system in the twentieth century. It seeks to examine how this transformation took place, why it happened, the ways in which the monarchy resonated with various groups of Koreans and Japanese, and what the consequences were for the development of modern Korean nationalism and Japanese imperialism. In an effort to provide an historical context in which to understand the sweeping social and cultural changes experienced by Koreans as they lived through a peculiar form of 20th-century modernity, I propose a summer project that utilizes Korean- and Japanese-language resources of the Library of Congress.

Associated Products

“Politics and Pageantry in Protectorate Korea (1905-10): The Imperial Progresses of Sunjong” (Article)
Title: “Politics and Pageantry in Protectorate Korea (1905-10): The Imperial Progresses of Sunjong”
Author: Christine Kim
Abstract: In the winter of 1909, at the height of Japan’s informal rule in Korea, the protectorate government sent the Korean emperor Sunjong on an extended tour of the provinces. A reinvention of the traditional royal progresses of the Choson dynasty, what started out as an exercise to promote the residency-general’s policies through the throne sparked a series of acts of resistance that culminated in a major confrontation in the northwest. This article explores the strange dynamics behind the progresses, the role of the media in Korea and Japan in galvanizing public opinion, and the contest of two official nationalisms defined by throne and national flag.
Year: 2009
Primary URL: http://journals.cambridge.org/repo_A60OvNJU
Secondary URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20619797
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of Asian Studies
Publisher: Association for Asian Studies

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