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<font size=3>Colleagues,<br><br>
I hate to join a romanization discussion, but I agree with Gari Ledyard
that civility and respect are paramount. And I think that his handling of
romanization in the Ki-Moon Lee /Yi Kimun case is quite appropriate and
can serve as a model. But for other types of cases, why not use the
preferrred romanization for names whenever possible, even for those
people who are not well-known. This should particularly be so for people
who are currently alive. I say this because a name is more than a bunch
of letters and more than just a noun. As a proper noun referring to a
specific person, doesn't a name deserve respectful handling? Names also
have legal ramifications in particular contexts. If the romanization of
my name on my driver's license does not match that on my passport and
other legal documents, then that's a problem. For international travel,
romanized names on air tickets should match that on passports. And so
forth. So it's not clear that we scholars should have full leeway to do
as we wish when it comes to romanizing names. This is why I think that,
as much as possible, we should use the romanization used by that person
for his/her name. If M-R or some other system is also deemed necessary,
then put that in parentheses after the name or in a footnote or in some
other appropriate format. And of course, in cases where we can't
determine what the preferred romanization is, then just use M-R or
whatever system one is using. The idea is to be respectful, considerate
and practical.<br><br>
On another note, I appreciate very much what Frank has to say about the
romanizing of names of ethnic Koreans who may or may not be
citizens/residents of one of the two Koreas. Although some may find it
confusing and disorganized, may I suggest that the different romanization
schemes used in the U.S. versus various European countries and so forth
are important vestiges or markers of the transnational experiences of
ethnic Koreans. In some cases, the romanizations reflect
"romanizing" a Korean name into French or German or Spanish and
then using that as the basis for romanizing again into English. For me,
these different romanization schemes for names are rich with history and
meaning and say a great deal about cultural encounters, notions of the
aesthetic, and representations.<br><br>
Also, perhaps one can interpret the individualistic manner of romanizing
personal names to be a kind of rebellion among ethnic Koreans, a refusal
to be pinned downed. Far-fetched and fanciful, perhaps, but names in all
their forms do have resonance among a people with a recent and bitter
history of forced re-naming of self under colonial duress.<br><br>
Best,<br>
Ji-Yeon<br>
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