Contentious Kwangju : the May 18 uprising in Korea's past and present
Kwangju Uprising, Kwangju-si, Korea, 1980 Kwangju-si (Korea) History
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
2003
EISBN 9780585466705
Introduction / Gi-wook Shin.
Part I : Origins and development.
1. The formation of an "absolute community" / Jung-woon Choi.
2. Simin'gun : the citizens' army during the Kwangju uprising / Jong-chul Ahn.
3. An American missionary's view / Jean W. Underwood.
4. Has Kwangju been realized? / Keun-sik Jung.
Part II : Legacy and representation.
5. From heroic victims to disabled survivors : the 5-18 injured after twenty years / Linda S. Lewis and Ju-na Byun.
6. The Kwangju uprising as a vehicle of democratization : a comparative perspective / Jung-kwan Cho.
7. Victims and heroes : competing visions of May 18 / Don Baker.
8. Reinventing the region : the cultural politics of place in Kwangju city and South Chŏlla province / Sallie Yea.
Afterword : Kwangju : the historical watershed / Kyung Moon Hwang.
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. In keeping with the book's title, the essays offer competing interpretations of the Kw.
Part I : Origins and development.
1. The formation of an "absolute community" / Jung-woon Choi.
2. Simin'gun : the citizens' army during the Kwangju uprising / Jong-chul Ahn.
3. An American missionary's view / Jean W. Underwood.
4. Has Kwangju been realized? / Keun-sik Jung.
Part II : Legacy and representation.
5. From heroic victims to disabled survivors : the 5-18 injured after twenty years / Linda S. Lewis and Ju-na Byun.
6. The Kwangju uprising as a vehicle of democratization : a comparative perspective / Jung-kwan Cho.
7. Victims and heroes : competing visions of May 18 / Don Baker.
8. Reinventing the region : the cultural politics of place in Kwangju city and South Chŏlla province / Sallie Yea.
Afterword : Kwangju : the historical watershed / Kyung Moon Hwang.
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. In keeping with the book's title, the essays offer competing interpretations of the Kw.
