[KS] North Korea says multiracialism is poison

[Joerg Plassen]

Dear Vladimir,

thank you very much. - At least to the innocent, this all together seems
to reinforce the perception that (at least) the present NK position can
be readily explained without reference to the Nazis, i.e. as an amalgam
of outdated pre- and postwar South Korean perceptions (both influenced
by  changing Japanese ideologies), and - as the ununtentional usage of
"Japanese" terms seems to indicate - in its present form perhaps owes
more to cultural memory than to historiography itself. 
   
Thanks again,
joerg

 

On Sun, 2006-04-30 at 19:36 +0200, Vladimir Tikhonov wrote:
> Dear Joerg and all others,
> 
> in fact, it looks as if the usage of the term "tanil minjok" is quite 
> late, essentially post-colonial phenomenon. The great old man of Korea's 
> "mainstream" nationalist history, the late Prof. Yi PyOngdo, wrote in 
> September 1946 an article entitled "ChosOn minjok Ui tanilsOng", for the 
>   8th issue of <Sinch'Onji>, but here, as well as in other post-1945 
> publication, the emphasis upon "tanilsOng" was obviously connected to 
> the protest against externally forced partition. In colonial and 
> pre-colonial nationalism, the understanding of the "racial composition" 
> of the Koreans was quite different. In Sin Ch'aeho's seminal 1908 "Toksa 
> sillon" - usually considered the starting point for Korea's nationalist 
> historiography, I guess? - there is a special chapter entitled "Race" 
> (injong), where it is stated that the ancestors of the Koreans fell into 
> at least six different 'racial categories' (mohe, jurchen, 
> "aboriginals", and so on are all included), but there was one dominant, 
> "chief" (chu) category among them - namely, the "sacred descendants of 
> Tan'gun, the race of PuyO". This "sacred race" assimilated all the 
> others, and, interestingly, "among the aboriginal people, the people of 
> the yemaek tribes, the stronger did manage to survive, and the weaker 
> were wept out, just in the same way as in the case of American Indians" 
> (An PyOngjik ed., <Sin Ch'aeho>, Han'gilsa, 1979, pp. 62-63). Unlike 
> today's North Koreans, Sin Ch'aeho also took attention to the existence 
> of mixed blood children between Japanese and Mongolian invaders and 
> Koreans. It looks as if in the pre-colonial nationalism, the story of 
> "Korean race formation" looked more like the story about continental 
> migrants conquering ainu and other "aboriginal people" in some 1900s 
> Japanese historical accounts. That is, initial heterogeneity of "our 
> race" was acknowledged, but then, successful process of "homogenization" 
> by one "privileged" group of "our ancestors" was emphasized.
> 
> Best greetings,
> 
> Vladimir Tikhonov (Pak Noja)
> 
> On 30.04.2006 12:10, Joerg Plassen wrote:
> > Dear Vladimir, 
> > 
> > having read your inspiring comments and enjoyed the overtones, a perhaps
> > somewhat innocent follow-up question from a non-specialist: 
> > Interested in the ideological underpinnings of the NK use of the Tan'gun
> > myth, I recently came across the terms "hy*olt'ong" (as used also by Sin
> > Ch'aeho) and "tanil minjok". - Is the latter only related to the
> > Japanese post-war concept of "tanitsu minzoku" (which would make up for
> > another nice twist), or can the usage of this term be traced back
> > further?  
> > 
> > Best, 
> > joerg 
> > 
> > 
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> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > 
> > Dr. Joerg Plassen, (Jun.Prof. Geistesgeschichte Koreas)
> > Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum
> > Fakultaet fuer Ostasienwissenschaften
> > Sprache und Kultur Koreas
> > D-44780 Bochum
> > Germany
> > 
> > eMail: joerg.plassen at ruhr-uni-bochum.de
> > Tel. (off.)  : +49-(0)234-32-22919
> > Fax  (off.)  : +49-(0)234-32-14747
> > Tel. (priv.) : +49-(0)234-798-1235
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Joerg Plassen, (Jun.Prof. Geistesgeschichte Koreas)
Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum
Fakultaet fuer Ostasienwissenschaften
Sprache und Kultur Koreas
D-44780 Bochum
Germany

eMail: joerg.plassen at ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Tel. (off.)  : +49-(0)234-32-22919
Fax  (off.)  : +49-(0)234-32-14747
Tel. (priv.) : +49-(0)234-798-1235