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Rhetoricity of History and Narrativity of Life: A Life History Approach to the First-Generation Koreans in Japan

Han, Min Wha
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1238100975

Abstract Details

2009, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Communication Studies (Communication).
The purpose of this dissertation is to explore, record, and analyze the traces of colonial and postcolonial conditions through various standpoints of Korean diasporic communities in Japan. My approach is to reveal life course narratives of the first-generation Koreans in Japan. As a third-generation Zainichi Korean whose familial history witnesses, yet has overlooked, the colonial root as an origin of displacement, I employ a self-reflexive stance and an insider's (yet only in a partial form) perspective to history writing. Specifically, in this dissertation, I ask: 1) what would be some shared life course experiences of first generation Koreans in Japan as the population whose lives are conditioned by the colonial displacement, and how are they narrated by them?; and 2) how would the first generation Koreans' stories of their displacement explain their material and sociopolitical circumstances that were uniquely conditioned by the colonial history and diasporic experiences? Chapters approach these research questions in multiple ways - with my autobiographical reflections, with a historical literature review, with a discussion of rhetorical history, narrative as well as postcolonial theories, and with actual stories collected through field work. The stories of the interviewed first generation Zainichi Koreans are divided, yet acknowledging the interconnectedness, into two versions - "Big and Small" based on the intensity and duration of life story interviews. The Big stories, about which I aim to narrate the participants' holistic life history, have revealed the three 'relationshipss' 1) the past relationship between colonial rulers and subjects; 2) the present relationship between postcolonial subjects and the society; and 3) the power relation between popularly acknowledged memory and oppressed ones. The 'Small' stories, which are context-based and conversational narrations of the participants' life experiences, have emotionally spoken to what I call the six ‘then and now' problems. The challenges they have faced in daily lives in Japan have been expressed in such thematic terms as: name, education, work, poverty, illiteracy, and kurou, or hardship. The Big and Small stories, collectively speak to the continuity of the colonial experiences among the first generation Koreans in Japan: Experienced migration to Japan, witnessed the transition from the old Korea to the divided one, and transformed (or resisted doing so) their positionality/s from the “Japanese subjects” to the permanent “foreigners” cum “citizens” in Japan. Through the lenses of rhetorical history perspective, I argue for an importance of a critical perspective on the part of a researcher in the process of text-making in history writing.
Raymie McKerrow, PhD (Committee Chair)
William Rawlins, PhD (Committee Member)
Devika Chawla, PhD (Committee Member)
Julie White, PhD (Committee Member)
272 p.
Communication
Zainichi Koreans; Koreans in Japan; Rhetorical history; Life history; Narrative

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Han, M. W. (2009). Rhetoricity of History and Narrativity of Life: A Life History Approach to the First-Generation Koreans in Japan [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1238100975

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Han, Min Wha. Rhetoricity of History and Narrativity of Life: A Life History Approach to the First-Generation Koreans in Japan. 2009. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1238100975.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Han, Min Wha. "Rhetoricity of History and Narrativity of Life: A Life History Approach to the First-Generation Koreans in Japan." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1238100975

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.